Saikai story: reunion story
by ChocoLatteCosmo
Summary: Discontinued until further notice. gradual Kakashi Sakura... Their past has been locked away, their lives cut off from each other. Until now, they have not known, they haven't remembered. But after years of separation, the past is returning once again.
1. Prologue

(Author's note:)

**HERE'S MY ADVICE TO ALL YOU READERS--- SKIP THIS CHAPTER AND PROCEED DIRECTLY TO THE FIRST CHAPTER! (this is only a prologue)**

**I know that a lot of you just look at the prologue and don't read the rest of the story... which kinda bugs me, I must admit... T.T ... so please take the time to at least read past the prologue. You don't have to read the prologue, since it's not necessary to understanding and enjoying this story.**

**So just skip the prologue if you want to, and proceed directly to the next chapter! I promise that the story gets better as you read!

* * *

**

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Prologue**

_A faint light… glowing, piercing my consciousness… the memory of an ephemeral dream and the fading traces of a familiar voice…  
_..  
..

Kakashi opened his eyes slowly, taking in his surroundings. He was still alive. The trees around him waved their branches gently, moving in graceful unison to the song the wind was playing.

"……"

A dull burning pain could now be felt throughout his body; a throbbing ache echoed unendingly in his head. His mismatched eyes stared fixedly through the swaying tree foliage, to the blue sky lined with wispy clouds.  
..  
..

_How long ago…? How long ago was that past that seems so distant to me now…? 5 days…? 5 years…?  
_..  
..

His eyes gazed unseeingly at the endless blue above him. In his mind, the vivid stirrings of his past were awakening once again. That same face, that same smile… a broken replication of the person he had come to love most. For a brief moment, Kakashi's aloof expression, which he held even through his pain, flickered.  
..  
..

_I can see you still… smiling… It seems as though you're here at my side once again…  
_..  
..

When had he first realized that her spring green gaze had pierced through the armor that he had built…? Kakashi listened to the rustling of the leaves as the wind passed overhead. His surroundings, the blue sky, the sounds of the forest… they triggered a memory.

As quickly as the warmth of the memory was brought back to life, it faded away, leaving Kakashi feeling empty.  
..  
..

_The memories we built together… the joy and pain of what we shared… it's slowly slipping from my grasp… evading my hold.  
_..  
..

A cherry blossom petal drifted towards him, carried softly by the wind. The pale pink petal landed with a feather light touch in his outstretched and unmoving hand. Kakashi turned his head slightly, and saw the petal in his hand, contrasting with the dark crimson of his blood.

A cacophony of emotions escaped through Kakashi's emotionless façade; pain and grief for the losses he had suffered… regret for the past, present, and future… longing for her presence near his once more…  
..  
..

_Try as I might to bring your face clearly into view, I cannot… even the essence of your memory is vanishing…  
_..  
..

Kakashi's hand slowly closed over the delicate flower petal, as a sorrowful expression replaced the others. A single word, softly spoken to the wind, passed his bloodstained lips;

"Sakura…"


	2. winter snow

(Author's note:)Italics throughout the story is used for a major time or story shift. Think of them as additions, windows to understand the story more deeply.

'testing testing one two three'- thought

"testing testing one two three"- speech  
...

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter one;**

_**Winter Snow**_

…………………………………………………….  
..  
..

_"It has been a long period of time… since we first met." A smile appeared on the weather-beaten face crisscrossed with scars. "Has it not, Haruno?"_

_The man beside him stared distantly at the sky, his eyes seeing the misty remnants of past scenes. The sun glinted on his coppery red hair, once a fiery blazing halo of fire, now dulled with age and time._

_"Twenty seven years today… Remember, Hatake? Since that day we first became chuunin together…" Haruno said after a long moment. The white haired man beside him raised his head to gaze at the sky also. _

_"Twenty seven years… is a long time…" Hatake said._

_"…It is." The red-haired man answered simply. For a while, the two old comrades sat side by side, staring vaguely into the sky._

_"Haruno." Something about Hatake's tone caused Haruno to turn in order to see the other man's face. Hatake only continued staring up at the blue sky. "…I… am afraid…" Haruno's eyes widened. Never, in their long friendship had he heard Hatake say those words out loud._

_"Why would you-"_

_"I am afraid of the future." Hatake continued. By now, a faint line had appeared between Haruno's eyebrows. "There… is something… something darkening the light in my dreams." Hatake said quietly, closing his eyes. "For the past month, the same dreams… over and over… and a growing uneasiness in my heart… I… I cannot place my finger on the reason why, but I am afraid of what is to come."_

_"……" Haruno swallowed. "What… what do you think will happen…?" He asked, his hand clenching unknowingly into a fist. Hatake opened his eyes._

_"…… I'm not sure… but I sense pain in my dreams… so that is what I am expecting." Hatake turned and caught Haruno's slightly bewildered and worried looking expression. _

_"Haruno…"_

_"……"_

_"This may be an aging man's delusions," Hatake managed a rueful grin, which quickly faded. "But… by chance… if something does happen…" His gaze locked onto Haruno's steadily._

_"…?" _

"_Promise me… that you will watch over my son, as I would do for any children of yours." Hatake said seriously. Haruno smiled._

"_You need not fear of that. I would have done that without your asking it." The bright warmth the sun provided vanished as a cloud drifted over the celestial orb, blocking its life-giving rays._

"_The future… the mysterious power it holds over our lives…"_

"…… _And we are powerless to stop it…"_

…………………………………………………….  
..  
..

"Hatake… Hatake!"

A silver haired man halted, and turned to see a familiar figure struggling towards him. It had been snowing nonstop for the past week, and only today had the sun finally decided to show itself. Now, the sun's bright rays glinted off the pristine snow on the ground and buildings. He watched, mildly curious, as the brown-haired figure reached him.

"Yo…" He greeted as the man stopped in front of him. "Long time no see, Iruka." Iruka let out a sigh, which condensed into small puffs of vapor in the cold winter air.

"Kakashi… Thank god I caught you…" He said in a relieved manner. Kakashi's pale eyebrow rose. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Ah… You were looking for me…?"

Iruka brushed Kakashi's comments aside.

"I need you to do me a favor…"

"That would depend on how much effort it would require on my part." Kakashi remarked, his eye straying to a nearby window displaying the latest issue of Make out Paradise, a special winter edition. Iruka frowned.

"Hey, I'm serious." He rubbed his temple. "You probably know there's going to be another skirmish along the borders of the snow country… apparently, they've refused to return the ninjas they've captured, even after negotiations..." Iruka said, watching for a reaction on Kakashi's placid face.

"Mm… I've heard." Kakashi said vaguely.

"Well, I've been put on the eighth squad." Iruka said abruptly. That got Kakashi's attention.

"What?"

"Yeah… I'm finally gonna be fighting in the war, first-hand in the battle scene." There was a suppressed air of excitement and nervousness in him. Kakashi's visible eyebrow lowered, remembering the feelings of anxious anticipation he'd felt before his first major battle. Despite the fact both men were jounin, in terms of experience and skill, Kakashi was among the best.

"The novelty wears off after the first week or so of fighting for your life and being covered in blood and gore." Kakashi said drily. Iruka smiled slightly.

"I know." Iruka turned his head to look at the snowy mountains in the distance, where he would most likely be fighting for his country and life in a few days' time.

Kakashi watched him, the slight frown he wore covered by the black mask he wore over his lower face. "The difference between you and me, is that you're a veteran on the battlefield… and compared to you, I'm just a scared, untried little puppy." Iruka admitted.

"Yah… I've probably been in more battles than the number of women you've ever known in your life." Kakashi drawled. Iruka's eyebrow quirked.

"Women? Or females?" Iruka said with a grin. "I'm surrounded by females all the time… they love me, I'm telling you, they can't get enough of me!" He said cockily.  
"I assume you're referring to the little pipsqueaks you teach in the academy." Kakashi taunted.  
"Taught." Iruka corrected. "And some of them weren't what I would call little pipsqueaks." Kakashi's eyebrow rose.

"Oh?"

Iruka sensed the conversation starting to drift.

"Wait a minute… I'm not here to get in a perverted conversation with you." He mumbled, rubbing his hands distractedly to warm them. Kakashi heard him.

"Ah… what are you here for, then?" Kakashi teased. Iruka ignored him.

"Anyways, I need you to do something for me."

"You act like it's a given… But I already told you, it depends on how much effort it takes from me." Kakashi pointed out. The other man acted as if Kakashi hadn't even spoken.

"If I'm gonna be gone for who knows how long, I'm not gonna be able to train my cell-"

"Duh."

"-So I want you to train them in my stead." Iruka finished, beaming. Kakashi's one visible eye widened at this unexpected suggestion.

"Come again?" Kakashi asked, dumbfounded.

"It's only while I'm gone," Iruka went on. "And they're not bad, once you get to know them, I mean, they've matured a lot-" Kakashi interrupted.

"Hey, where's my say in all this?" He demanded, dismayed. "What you're asking requires _way_ to much time, energy, and effort from me." Kakashi said, frowning. Iruka reached out and patted him gratefully on the shoulder, as if to a obedient dog.

"Great, so you'll do it?" Iruka flashed another happy grin. Kakashi started to speak, but was once again cut off. "I'm gonna be gone starting 3 days from now, so you can start then, alright?"

"Wait-"

Iruka started off, waving back as he called,

"Thanks, I really appreciate this, Hatake!" He jogged off, leaving Kakashi standing as though he'd turned to stone. As Iruka disappeared from sight, Kakashi roused himself from his stupor.

"That guy… is unbelievable…"

…………………………………………………….  
..  
..

Iruka sighed with relief as he glanced back, seeing Kakashi making no move to run after him. He slowed to a more leisurely pace. Now that he was out of Kakashi's immediate strange rang, uninvited thoughts crept into his mind.

'Maybe… that wasn't such a bright idea…' Iruka thought, his brows furrowing. 'I had a hard enough time getting my cell to like me… how will they react to him?'

Iruka's mind recalled their first meeting, in which one of the kids had rigged up a prank that involved having a chalk-eraser dropped on his head. The brown-haired man was struck by an ominous feeling.

"……" Iruka groaned. 'I should've asked someone else…'

……………………………………………………….  
..  
..

Hatake Kakashi slowly laid the bouquet of white carnations on the untouched snow in front of the monumental stone. Straightening, he noticed how effectively the petals of the flowers faded into the snow-covered ground. If it hadn't been for the verdant green of the flower stems, he would almost have lost sight of the carnations.

He sighed, causing a delicate stream of vapor to appear in front of his face. He idly watched it fade back into invisibility.

"I haven't been here for a while…" Kakashi said aloud, his voice falling flat in the soundless and nearly monotone surroundings. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, more out of habit than to keep them warm. For a long time, he simply stood there, not worrying about the past or present or future, not thinking about the mundane matters a person faced throughout their life.

He allowed his mind to integrate itself with the quiet ambiance of the winter setting, feeling each strand of time and fate linked inexplicably to him slow until he felt a strange quality of being nothing and everything at once..

If only life was as simple as this single moment...

The lone call of stray bird brought him sharply back to the present, jolting the wheels of time back into action. Kakashi stared uncomprehendingly at the engraved mass of stone in front of him for a moment. Then his eye caught a name engraved deeply into the stone, and he seemed to remember himself. The tall jounin stared at that one name, with an expression that few had ever seen on his face.

"Funny, isn't it?" Kakashi said quietly. "War, I mean." His eyes stared distantly past the smooth surface of the stone now. "War is what tore our lives apart… yet, it's what brought us together." Kakashi smiled slightly, remembering. He closed his eyes and stood there for a moment longer. Then, he turned and walked swiftly out of the clearing without a second glance back at the monument.

As he walked out, a slight frown marred his usually placid face. Only the trees and unanswering snow heard his soft comment.

"I wonder what war will bring this time…"

…………………………………………………………  
...

To be continued in chapter two;

Stay tuned! In chapter two, Kakashi finally meets cell 7!

(Author's note:)For those who haven't read my works before, please note, my stories may move slowly at first. I take a lot of time developing the climax of the story, so the first few chapters are build ups, introductions, etc.

Don't worry… I do have the plot worked out. (Yes, it has a plot. Surprising? Ha ha. (That was sarcasm, by the way.))

Please remember, reviews are entirely welcome; I read each and every one of them.

Until next time then!


	3. Beginnings

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter two;**

**_Beginning story_**

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_A small hand appeared from the folds of the blanket, and grasped the finger of the copper-haired man. He chuckled._

_"She is beautiful, is she not?" He asked his companion, gazing fondly at his daughter. Hatake nodded, his face soft as he watched his friend tenderly holding the month-old child. Wisps of pale pink hair were visible on the baby's head, an unusual hair color that had been inherited from her mother. "Her name is Sakura… Haruno Sakura…" Hatake and Haruno sat silently, both men looking at the baby in Haruno's arms. _

_"You waited a long time to have another child." Hatake said finally, his voice hesitant and quiet. The copper-haired man stiffened at his words. Hatake winced. He should have known the subject was still painful for the other man. He was about to speak, to apologize for bringing up painful memories, when Haruno spoke._

_"…… I didn't think I could bear losing another child." He said, his head lowered, as if wholly absorbed in his sleeping daughter. Hatake sighed heavily._

_Haruno's first child had been born a year or so before his own. Exceptionally bright, Haruno's son had moved to the rank of Chuunin quickly. War had still been raging, and Haruno's son had been sent out on a team mission._

_They were ambushed and killed on their return trip to Konoha. _

_Hatake had watched his best friend since childhood go through a nightmare that had nearly broken him. The scars from that loss were still evident in Haruno. He talked less, and there were permanent lines on the once smooth skin of his face. _

_It was only in the past few years that Haruno had begun smiling again. The white-haired man cleared his throat._

_"The war is nearly over." _

_"So it seems," Haruno replied, his gaze still on his daughter. "And I am glad for it." The copper-haired man raised his head, and looked at Hatake. "I do not want my daughter to live in a time full of blood and death. Better that she does not have to experience the life we have lived for the past twenty years."_

_"Yes." Hatake said simply, thinking of his own son. _

_The two sat for a while in silence, one man holding his precious burden gently, the other watching them, but not really seeing them. _

_The white-haired man finally stirred._

_"Let us hope, then, that the war ends soon." Hatake said quietly. _

…………………………………………………………  
...  
...

A bird chirped lazily, breaking the calm silence that three people were currently languishing in. They sat, undisturbed and silent, on a wooden bench on the bridge overlooking a narrow, but deep and fast moving stream. It had been their meeting place for years, and old habits died hard.

Nearby, the sounds of running feet reached disinterested ears, and the laughter of children playing in the newly fallen snow was heard. A petite girl, sitting on the ground, slowly exhaled loudly, watching her breath mist in the cool air, eyelids lowered over her bright eyes. A cloud passed over the sun, abruptly cutting off the warmth. Two heads lifted in startled unison at the sudden movement beside them.

"That's it. I'm leaving." The dark-haired boy stated, rising to his feet. A golden-haired boy, slightly shorter than the other, pushed himself into a standing position and started after the dark-haired one, leaving the girl beside him to watch the unfolding scene uncertainly.

"Hold on a second, Sasuke!" He said angrily. "You can't just leave-"

"Can't I?" Sasuke cut in, not bothering to stop or to look back. "It's been three hours, Naruto… I doubt Iruka-sensei's coming."

Naruto watched the dark-haired boy walk away from him with irritation. He turned to the girl behind him.

"Sakura-Chan… do something!" He complained. The girl didn't move.

"You've known Sasuke-kun for quite a while now, Naruto-kun… Probably longer than I've known him." She sighed. "You can't stop him from doing what he wants… you should know that by now." Sakura said patiently. She glanced at the departing Sasuke out of the corner of her eye with a thoughtful frown.

He had always been one to do what he wanted. Ever since the team had met four years ago, Sasuke had always been the solitary one… the one who seemed to be always shrouded by an inscrutable darkness that was only vaguely comprehensible to the other two members of his team. Given his past, his cynical, detached demeanor towards life was understandable.

He had not always been this way. Sakura's frown faded into a softer look.

When he had been in the ninja academy with the others, many years ago, the shadows surrounding him now had been invisible to everyone, including Sasuke himself. A sweet, innocent boy…

Back then, Sakura had seen a shy, somewhat self-conscious but still ambitious boy; a simple boy who dreamt of emerging from his elite brother's shadow and being acknowledged for his own genius.

Now, he looked neither backwards or to the sides, even for an instant.

He had no need to.

The past followed him and carved out his future for him; he lived in the past-- for the past. He was fated to be chained for the rest of his life.

He had no foreseeable future besides his past; even Sasuke probably saw this. But he still dogmatically clung to life in order to fulfill his own prophecy that had been born from the deaths of his clansmen.

Sakura had once been almost obsessed with the handsome boy who surpassed all others in every way. He was everything she was not, and therefore, she idolized him. She had fallen in love with the romanticism of his situation, seeing him as a tragic hero figure.

She had failed to see the hollow remnants of a formerly vibrant person.

Maturing over time, her keen eyes had finally spotted what they had refused to see for most of her childhood. Loving a person who didn't have the capacity for love would only cause her more pain.

To believe that one day her unwavering dedication to him would be enough to erase his past was an illusion that she could no longer live in.

He didn't want her, and she was finally starting to realize, that loving was not an emotion Sasuke could feel- not until he could release his hatred…

And so… Sakura had gradually allowed her glorified vision of Sasuke to dissipate, until she had finally seen the lonely, unhappy boy he really was, despite his cold exterior.

Sakura turned away from the dark-haired boy, and focused on something else, uncomfortable with the sudden air of solemnity that gripped her. Naruto was talking to her in a loud voice, unaware that she had been spacing out.

"I'm sure that Iruka-Sensei told us to be here two hours ago!" Naruto complained. "So I really don't get why he's not here!"

"Iruka-sensei has never been this late before…" A vision of her bed, soft, warm, alluring, and comfortable, loomed into mind. "Maybe I should leave too…" Sakura mused. Naruto, only half-listening, interrupted her with a loud exclamation as he looked past the girl, blue eyes wide with surprise.

"Now, what's this about leaving?" A new voice said smoothly from behind Sakura. The girl started, hastily clambering up and stumbling backwards towards Naruto in alarm. Naruto's brow furrowed as he and Sakura stared at the stranger before them.

"……" Sakura blinked, subconsciously noting Naruto doing the same.

The man paid them scant attention, his gaze straying over to the still visible boy a couple meters away. His head swiveled back to face them;

"That boy there… is he your teammate…?" He questioned in an unhurried manner. Naruto scowled.

"You mean Sasuke?" Naruto saw the stranger nod. The blond boy turned and shouted in a loud voice to catch Sasuke's attention. "OI! SASUKE!" Sakura winced at the shrill yelling that had not changed noticeably since the day the team had first met. And they had met a little over three years ago.

Sasuke's keen ears heard Naruto's not exactly undetectable shouts with little difficulty, and vaguely annoyed, he stopped and turned to see what the idiot was shouting about. His eyes caught on an unfamiliar figure, crouched on top of the bridge railing.

'That's… not Iruka-sensei…' He thought, his dark brows slightly lowered. The dark-haired boy's eyes moved to Naruto, who was now gesturing for Sasuke to return to the bridge and join them.

Sasuke hesitated, then trudged reluctantly back to his group, eyeing the stranger with veiled suspicion. The other two waited in silence as the dark-haired boy walked towards them. He finally reached them and halted, still staring at the man.

Iruka's students and the new man before them studied each other, the silence broken only by the sounds of the village near them.

Sakura took in the stranger's appearance. Green jounin vest and uniform… silver (was he an old man…?) and rather untidy hair, and strangest of all, a black fabric face mask, hiding the lower portion of his face from view. His Hitai-ate was tilted at a lazy angle, drooping over his left eye (or right, depending on which way you looked at it). A dark eye, not dissimilar to a certain dark-haired boys' on her team, was visible, though the heavy eyelid above the said eye gave the impression of disinterest and boredom.

All in all, despite the fact that his face was obscured by the black mask, he didn't seem like an exceptionally remarkable person.

**(A.N: The parentheses that interrupt some of the sentences are Sakura's thoughts, and this chapter is, so far, mostly from her side, though the other members will come in here and there… hope that helped…)**

Sasuke spoke abruptly, eyebrows drawn together.

"Who are you?" He asked, his tone cautious but still sharp. Almost all the words that left his mouth inevitably ended up sounding brusque and cold. It was simply the way he had become. The man's only visible feature, his one eye, regarded them pleasantly (or was that condescension lurking in that dark eye of his?).

"Are you team seven?" He asked, ignoring Sasuke's question. "Trained by a teacher by the name of Umino Iruka?" Sakura cocked her head. That didn't sound like the voice of an old man. Maybe he wasn't as old as she originally thought.

Sasuke answered for the group.

"Yeah." He said shortly. "Now who the hell are you?" He asked, irritation lacing his voice. Unexpectedly, the stranger didn't seem to take offense at Sasuke's rude tone. Instead, he smiled. Or rather, his visible eye behaved as other normal eyes do when people smile or laugh. Sasuke's eyebrow rose at the palpable waves of humor coming from the man.

"Nobody of consequence, really…" he said, still smiling.

"Nobody of consequence…" Sasuke repeated, skeptical. "Then why are you here?"

"Aa… as to that, I'll be your teacher until Iruka gets back." He replied calmly. Sakura and Naruto exchanged startled glances. Naruto turned quickly to the man.

"What do you mean you'll be our teacher? For how long? Did something happen to Iruka-sensei?" The blond asked, visibly upset. The man in front of the team, appeared to think for a moment.

"I don't know how long… depends on how long his, uh, mission takes." He said, shrugging his shoulders. The jounin's eyes moved briefly to the girl, who had a stricken look on her face. Following his lead, the other two turned to Sakura.

"…Did… Iruka-sensei… was he… recruited for the war…?" She asked in a small voice. Naruto's eyes widened when the jounin in front of them nodded after a moment's hesitation.

"What? Iruka-sensei… in the war… why… he……" Naruto's voice trailed off, as he simply stared at the masked man, lost for words.

"Don't worry… he's not on a dangerous mission… I don't know the full details, but he's only serving as a temporary for the messenger unit." The man lied smoothly. Their faces relaxed slightly at this, though the dark-haired boy's eyes still regarded him with some suspicion. The man suppressed a grim smile. If only Iruka's mission was as simple as the lie he had just told. In truth, Iruka's mission was much more dangerous than that. But what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

The silver-haired mancleared his throat.

"I've heard about you three from Iruka… but since it seems like I'll be your teacher until god-knows-when," Thejounin paused, and tugged his hitai-ate further down. "Let's start with introductions," He finished. Three pairs of eyes stared at him.

"……" The silver-haired man coughed lightly. "Right. I'm Hatake Kakashi, jounin."

There was a brief silence. When it became obvious that he wasn't going to say anything more, the blond boy gave an exasperated sigh and exchanged looks with the girl next to him.

"Another Sasuke… just what we need…" He muttered. Kakashi's visible eyebrow rose slightly, his ears catching the faint mumble coming from the boy. '……Should I have said more…?' Kakashi thought to himself. He shrugged it off and fixed his gaze on the blond boy, who happened to be nearest to him. Sakura, noticing the direction of his gaze, nudged Naruto gently.

The others were startled when he gave a strident, enthusiastic shout.

"OK!" The other three winced in unison. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, chuunin, age fifteen turning sixteen soon, future hokage of Konohagakure, best ninja of my year-"

"Liar." Sasuke said in an undertone. Naruto continued as if he hadn't heard the other boy.

"- and the one who will beat Sasuke!" Naruto finished with a grin. Kakashi smiled slightly, his eyes resting on the blond boy. 'I see…' Kakashi pulled once again at his hitai-ate. 'So that's Naruto…' A single face rose up in his mind, a face that he had come to know well. 'Amazing how similar they look…' The jounin studied the blond for a while: Blond hair, neither short nor long, an open and affable expression, and a mischievous grin. This was the troublemaker that Iruka had warned him about… 'He doesn't seem like anything I can't handle.' Kakashi's gaze turned to the other boy, who was staring coolly at him.

"And you?" Kakashi prompted.

"Uchiha Sasuke, chuunin." Sasuke said shortly, holding Kakashi's gaze without wavering. Kakashi's eyes flickered imperceptibly. 'An Uchiha… that explains the Uchiha clan crest I saw on his shirt.' The boy had all the Japanese aristocratic characteristics; Raven black hair, skin so pale that it looked like it had never seen the sun, well-defined facial features, and a neutral, unrevealing expression.

Kakashi gave a slight frown, when he realized that the boy was trying to stare him down. 'What is it with Uchihas and pride…?' He wondered briefly. He turned away from the dark-haired Uchiha, quite aware that his actions were being watched and evaluated critically by the boy.

"And you?" Kakashi said, fully directing his attention towards the girl for the first time. His brow furrowed slightly as he studied her. Pink hair of a delicate shade, pale skin, and green eyes reminiscent of spring… He felt like he had seen her before somewhere, but he couldn't quite grasp the memory.

"I'm Haruno Sakura… chuunin… age fifteen…" She said hesitantly. Kakashi stared at her. Haruno… the name sounded familiar. Wasn't she the one that Tsunade was training as a medic-nin? And… he could swear he had heard the name from somewhere else…

Kakashi cleared his throat, waving away the vague, half-formed thoughts in his head.

"My my… the future hokage, an Uchiha genius, and Tsunade's apprentice…" He drawled. The girl flushed, though Sasuke didn't seem quite so pleased. Naruto didn't seem to know what to make of his words. "Quite a responsibility I've got on my hands…" Kakashi slid from the bridge railing to the ground with catlike grace.

Sasuke watched the man's movements closely. The hunched shoulders and half-closed eyelids gave their new 'teacher' a fairly convincing image of being a lazy, lackluster, lethargic male, but Sasuke's sharp eyes saw far more than his teammates.

Despite his slouched posture, the man had been on the narrow bridge railing with perfect balance, and he hadn't even touched his hands or knees to the railing to steady himself once. Not that Sasuke was impressed by this. The man had been three hours late, looked like all he did was sleep, and wore a face mask that conveniently hid his face.

The hitai-ate on his forehead was no guarantee that the man was actually who he proclaimed he was. Ninjutsu or Genjutsu could easily fool the average human mind. Sasuke watched as Kakashi turned to face them, hands still stuffed into his pockets, and shoulders still somewhat slumped.

"I'm going to take you three to some training grounds," Kakashi's visible eye regarded them languidly. "You might have been there, you might not have…" He shrugged. "Doesn't really matter."

Naruto and Sakura exchanged interested glances.

"You're going to start training us today, Sensei?" Sakura asked curiously. The silver-haired man glanced at her.

"Maybe." He said carelessly. He abruptly turned to the left, taking the path leading towards the forest and started off. Naruto scratched his head.

"Gee, for a lazy looking guy, he moves pretty fast…" He said aloud.

"Well… I guess we better follow him…" Sakura said, looking at Sasuke and Naruto. Kakashi was moving further and further away from them, apparently not knowing or caring that he was leaving them behind.

Naruto quickly ran after the man, followed by Sakura. Kakashi glanced at them over his shoulder.

"Hmm? So you decided to follow me after all?" He said casually to Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke trailed behind the others as Kakashi led the group into the forest. "Not that I care whether or not you do." Kakashi smiled to himself at the indignant protests coming from the blond boy. "I mean, less work for me if you guys didn't want to work with me, right?"

The silver-haired man led them deeper into the forest, passing other training grounds and the occasional groups who were training in the forest, in spite of the cold.

"How much further?" Naruto asked.

"Tired already?" Kakashi asked, turning to look at the blond.

"No!" Naruto scowled. "But are you just taking us on a walk, or actually planning to train us someday soon?"

"Hmm? Did you say something, Naruno?" Kakashi said absently. Sakura and Naruto exchanged confused looks.

"Na… runo…?" Sakura repeated hesitantly.

"Isn't that his name?" Kakashi asked, scanning their surroundings. After a moment, he turned towards the right and trudged along a faintly visible path.

"My name is Naruto!" The blond said loudly, irritation lacing his voice. "Naruto, got that? I can't believe this guy… supposed to be our teacher, when he can't even get names straight…" Naruto scowled, glaring at Kakashi.

"And I'm Haruno… Haruno Sakura…" Sakura said, laying a gentle hand on Naruto's arm. Naruto gave a loud grumble, but his scowl faded somewhat.

Kakashi gave an absent-minded nod.

"Right… Uzumaki, Haruno, Uchiha…" He said, stepping carefully over a loose rock on the path. "I'll try not to forget your names…" He came to a sudden halt. "Hm…" His head swiveled to the sides, as he studied the surroundings. "…… I think we went too far…" He mumbled. Kakashi's eye latched onto a peculiar looking tree, a dead tree with a hole in its trunk, and nearly no branches. "Ah! There it is!"

"Are we going the right way?" Sakura asked anxiously.

"Yeah… sorry… I haven't been this way in a-"

"Why you?"

Kakashi glanced back at the dark-haired boy. He was surprised the Uchiha hadn't spoken before now. He was certainly more laconic than a certain Uchiha that he himself had known in his childhood.

"…… Why me? Hmm… that's kind of a broad question… mind being a little more specific?" Kakashi asked, hopping nimbly over a tree trunk that had fallen conveniently across the path.

"Iruka mentioned you a couple times, but he never said that you were a teacher." Sasuke said shortly. Kakashi's eyebrow rose slightly. 'Iruka? Just Iruka? No honorific?' Kakashi chanced a small glance back at the dark-haired Uchiha, and encountered the relentless stare again. 'Geez… what an insolent guy…'

"I'm not a teacher. I told you, I'm just filling in." Kakashi said easily.

"So why'd he choose you instead of one of the other teachers?" Sasuke asked, brows slightly lowered. Kakashi slowed down and finally came to a halt. All three looked around. A large clearing, the thin snow unmarred by any human footsteps, greeted them. A couple trees were scattered sparsely throughout the clearing. A stream ran through the very middle, and rocks of all sizes littered the ground, their surfaces covered by a light dusting of snow.

Kakashi turned and directly faced them for the first time.

"Is it that you can't trust me, Uchiha?" He asked smilingly. Sasuke didn't waver.

"You can't be too careful nowadays." Sasuke said, his dark eyes staring at Kakashi. Sakura and Naruto stood uncertainly in between.

"Or is it that you don't think me worthy of being your teacher?" Kakashi continued.

"Maybe it is." Sasuke's eyes moved to him teammates, who were staring at the pair of them. "If you think I'm such a fool that I'd blindly trust an unknown ninja, you're wrong." Sasuke said, his dark eyes moving back to Kakashi's face.

Sakura's eyes shifted down and she stifled a gasp. A kunai was in Sasuke's hand, concealed in the shadow and folds created by his dark shirt. Naruto, who had already noticed the kunai, unobtrusively took Sakura's elbow and tugged her backwards, out of Sasuke's range of motion, on the pretense of pointing out a crow that had landed a couple meters away.

"So you're implying that I'm not who I say I am?" Kakashi asked, his head cocked slightly to the side. Without warning, Sasuke swiftly raised his arm and flung the kunai at the man with deadly accuracy.

A sudden scream rang out, startling a flock of birds into flight. The dark-haired boy's head snapped up, immediately on the alert for anything out of the ordinary.

"SASUKE...! BEHIND YOU!" Sasuke turned, his eyes widening in alarm.

"……!"

……………………………………………………………………

(**Author's notes:**)

Geez! This chapter took me seven pages! I meant to keep it shorter, but it was impossible to find an ending point for this chapter! (So sorry about the cliff hanger… but have fun guessing what will happen next!)

Thanks for all those who read, and for those who left reviews. (HINT HINT: LEAVE REVIEWS BEHIND, MAKE ME HAPPY! REVIEWS LET ME KNOW WHETHER OR NOT PEOPLE ARE READING MY STORIES!)

To Mineko …. I forget the name.. anyways, thank you for pointing out that winter in a fire country is strange. I wasn't sure whether or not to add the fact that it was winter, but it'll come more into play later. I think..

Updates depend on how quickly I can get a new computer... my current one isn't working well. And even if I get a new computer, I don't know how to set up the internet... looks like chapters will be on hold for a while... T.T


	4. Acceptance

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter three;**

_**Acceptance**_

………………………………………………………………

_The white-haired man chuckled as the little hands wrapped themselves in the strands of his hair. Hatake held the small girl in his arms, as she grabbed more fistfuls of his hair. The copper-haired man sitting across from him smiled with amusement at the wince his friend made. _

_"Ah- Sakura, dear, just let go of my hair… there's a good girl… " Hatake quickly disentangled the baby's hands from his head, and hastily held her out to Haruno._

_"I think she likes you." Haruno said, his dark green eyes twinkling. Hatake glared at his friend, and attempted to say something, when a hand shot up and conveniently hit his nose. Hatake winced, his eyes watering._

_"This girl is going to be very dangerous when she grows up, Haruno." Hatake said in a pained voice. Haruno grinned._

_"Nice to know that she can defend herself, wouldn't you say?" He retorted. Hatake gently placed the pink-haired baby on his lap and bounced her, smiling at the squeals of delight coming from the girl._

_"She's a little over a year old now, is she not?" Hatake asked, still bouncing the infant on his knee. Haruno nodded. _

_"And your son?" Haruno inquired. "How old is he now?"_

_Hatake absentmindedly patted Sakura's back as she reached for his hand. Hatake felt her latch onto his thumb as soon as it neared her reach. He winced slightly. Haruno grinned._

_"He's twelve now." Hatake said, his weathered face filling with pride. "He took the jounin promotion exam, and passed, so he's a jounin now." _

_Haruno applauded._

_"My, looks like you've got a genius under your hands!" Haruno teased. Hatake ruffled Sakura's hair as she let go of his thumb, bored. Both men's heads turned at the sound of the front door opening and closing. Hatake brightened as the door to the living room slid open, revealing a masked figure._

_"Ah, you're back from your mission, Kakashi!" Hatake said, smiling. _

_Kakashi stepped into the room and pulled down his face mask, bowing to both men before sitting. Haruno whistled._

_"You've grown, Kakashi-kun…" Haruno said, his eyes resting on Kakashi's disheveled clothes and hair. Hatake eyed his son._

_"Was the mission successful, then?" He asked. Kakashi gave a tired nod. "Your third B-class one, correct?" Hatake continued, smirking at Haruno._

_"Hai." Kakashi answered. The boy's eyes landed on the small infant resting on Hatake's knee. His gaze went to Haruno._

_"Is she your daughter, Haruno-san?" He asked, his eyes showing a flicker of interest. Haruno motioned for his daughter. Upon receiving her, Haruno promptly deposited the baby into a startled Kakashi's lap. Hatake grinned._

_The two men watched as Kakashi stared uncertainly at the infant girl on his lap, who stared back up at him out of wide green eyes._

_"Her name is Sakura…" _

………………………………………………………………  
...  
...

Kakashi turned and directly faced them for the first time.

"Is it that you can't trust me, Uchiha?" He asked smilingly. Sasuke didn't waver.

"You can't be too careful nowadays." Sasuke said, his dark eyes staring at Kakashi. Sakura and Naruto stood uncertainly in between.

"Or is it that you don't think me worthy of being your teacher?" Kakashi continued.

"Maybe it is." Sasuke's eyes moved to him teammates, who were staring at the pair of them. The dark-haired boy caught Naruto's eye; Naruto gave a barely perceptible wink. "If you think I'm such a fool that I'd blindly trust an unknown ninja, you're wrong." Sasuke said, his dark eyes moving back to Kakashi's face.

Sakura's eyes shifted down and she stifled a gasp. A kunai was in Sasuke's hand, concealed in the shadow and folds created by his dark shirt. Naruto, who had already noticed the kunai, unobtrusively took Sakura's elbow and tugged her backwards, out of Sasuke's range of motion.

"So you're implying that I'm not who I say I am?" Kakashi asked, his head cocked slightly to the side. Without warning, Sasuke swiftly raised his arm and flung the kunai at the man with deadly accuracy.

A sudden scream rang out, startling a flock of birds into flight. The dark-haired boy's head snapped up, immediately on the alert for anything out of the ordinary.

"SASUKE! BEHIND YOU!" Sasuke turned, his eyes widening in alarm.

"……!"

The dark-haired boy leapt sideways, snatching another kunai from his pouch and holding it at the ready; a barrage of shuriken flew harmlessly past him as he landed in the clean, unstrewn snow. Behind him, the kage bunshin had disappeared.

Naruto cursed as another attack of shuriken flew out at them, this time coming slightly from the left. He and Sakura each dodged the attack, only to run into another shower of weapons.

Sasuke threw his kunai at the pink-haired girl, knocking aside a stray shuriken that would have made its way into her heart.

"Where is he!" Naruto growled, busy dodging various weapons. " The attacks are coming from all over the place!" He cursed as he nearly slipped on the cold slush under his feet.

Sakura spared a quick glance at the dark-haired boy near the pair.

"Sasuke…?" Sakura hurriedly shoved Naruto to the side as an errant shuriken made for the blond's head.

"No. Not yet." Sasuke replied shortly, understanding Sakura's unfinished question easily. His dark eyes roved throughout the clearing, searching for any sign that would give the jounin away. "Dammit… no sign of Chakra anywhere!" Sasuke muttered under his breath as he nimbly sidestepped a shower of long, thin needles.

Sakura tossed a warning glance towards the dark-haired boy, jerking her head back towards Naruto. Naruto gave them a fleeting thumbs up.

10…

9…

8…

Sakura raised her arm and neatly reflected an attack of shuriken from above with her kunai. She stole another glance at Naruto and Sasuke.

7…

6…

5…

Sasuke's eyes widened for a split second. He smirked slightly.

"Found him." He whispered lowly to his teammates.

4…

3…

2…

……

1…

…0…

Showtime.

……

**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM! **

A huge explosion shook the clearing, sending all three chuunins to the ground.

Watching safely from a distance, a silver-haired jounin cursed softly as he held out a hand to steady himself as the tree he was hiding in trembled dangerously for a moment. He frowned and searched the clearing for the three teenagers.

"What the hell…?"

**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM! **

Another explosion almost threw Kakashi from the tree branch to the ground far below. He caught himself in time and leaped almost effortlessly onto a sturdier branch in front of him. Kakashi's eyes scanned the clearing clouded by dust and debris below.

'It can't be an ambush…' He thought. 'This far into the fire country, it wouldn't take long for an outsider to be noticed.'

"……!"

He froze as he felt the delicate touch of cold steel against his jugular vein.

"Found you."

Kakashi felt the unmistakable presence of three distinct chakras flaring back into life as the three behind him released their concealment. The silver-haired man craned his head back, ignoring the kunai pressing warningly against his neck.

The Uchiha stood behind him, staring impassively at him. Slightly behind him, the blond boy was half-supporting a somewhat drained-looking Sakura.

"Aa… looks like I've been found." Kakashi said genially. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in response.

"Yeah, so you can drop that genjutsu now." The dark-haired boy said bluntly. Kakashi assumed a thoughtful air as he absentmindedly went through the motions necessary to cancel the genjutsu.

The barely perceptible feeling of tension in the air lifted as the genjutsu was deactivated. Sasuke slowly withdrew the sharp blade from Kakashi's neck.

"Aa… so those were clones in my genjutsu…" Kakashi mused, turning to face them. "And those explosions…"

"Distraction devices." Naruto said, grinning, holding up strips of paper with prominent black lettering on their surface.

Sakura shook her head to clear the slight dizziness that came as an after affect of using genjutsu for long periods of time. Naruto withdrew his arm from her elbow at her thankful nod. Kakashi watched her mildly.

"Looks like I was fooled." The silver-haired jounin said amiably, addressing the pink-haired girl. "You put a genjutsu on me, didn't you?"

She nodded, looking a little apologetic. Kakashi regarded her with more interest than he had previously. She nervously breathed out a cloud of short-lived vapor.

"And I didn't even notice…" He marveled. "So that's why I didn't see anything strange before Sasuke found me…" Kakashi was mildly impressed. 'This girl is good…' He thought. 'To be able to keep up such a convincing genjutsu at that age…'

"Yeah, Sakura-chan covered for us pretty well!" Naruto said proudly, flashing a warm smile towards the girl. Sasuke snorted.

"We give up." Sasuke said in a loud voice. Sakura frowned.

"…… Sasuke-kun…?" She questioned. Naruto looked perplexed as well. Sasuke turned towards them, a sour expression on his face.

"This is a bunshin too." He said flatly.

Sakura gasped as Sasuke plunged his kunai unhesitatingly into the jounin's neck. Sure enough, the silver-haired man's form disappeared in a cloud of thick smoke. Naruto groaned.

"Dammit… no wonder we found him so easily…" The blond complained. Sasuke scowled as the real Kakashi appeared on a tree branch close to where Naruto and Sakura stood. Sakura stared at him as he gave a lazy wave to the three.

"So my genjutsu was useless…" She muttered under her breath, looking miffed. Kakashi heard her and turned to look at her. The pink-haired girl looked a little weary, but that was to be expected after using a genjutsu.

Kakashi brought his hands together and clapped, ignoring the three chuunin's annoyed glares.

"Bravo, bravo!" He said cheerfully. Naruto grimaced. "You guys are pretty good!"

"……" Sasuke glared at the jounin, obviously irritated that Kakashi had outsmarted them. Kakashi smiled under his mask.

"Hmm… so Haruno put a genjutsu on me not long after we left the bridge, didn't she?" Kakashi said aloud. Sakura frowned, her lips forming into a pout.

"But it wasn't you, it was a clone."

The jounin waved her words away with a vague motion. 'But the point is, she kept up her genjutsu for a good forty-five minutes. Very impressive Chakra control.'

"And then all three of you guys searched for me while Haruno had her genjutsu on," He recounted thoughtfully. "-And the explosions were to distract me when you found me, so I wouldn't notice something was wrong down there in my _own_ genjutsu…" Kakashi's voice trailed off. Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets, still somewhat annoyed that Kakashi had beaten their team.

Naruto broke the silence.

"Well, Sasuke-teme, I guess we don't hafta worry about this guy being an imposter. He's lived up to his reputation, and fits the description Iruka-sensei gave us." Naruto said, shrugging. Sasuke said nothing, his dark eyes glancing at the jounin before opting to stare at their surroundings instead.

Kakashi's eyes crinkled in amusement.

"Iruka's taught you three pretty well," he said, his visible eye staring at each chuunin in turn. Naruto's chest puffed out a little in pride. "I'm glad this teaching stuff won't be as boring as I thought it would." The blond's face scrunched up as he tried to decide whether Kakashi had insulted or complimented them.

The silver-haired man tugged down on his lopsided hitai-ate somewhat distractedly. 'These three are good… much better than the average chuunin. As an Uchiha, Sasuke's level isn't surprising… Uzumaki seems to be in a rapid transition stage… As for Haruno…'

He glanced unobtrusively at the pink-haired girl currently arguing with Naruto. The reluctant Sasuke was dragged into the argument.

"I'm telling you, I don't need anything other than ramen!"  
"Naruto, ramen doesn't give you enough nutrition!" The girl turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, help him see some sense!" Sasuke shrugged.

"Honestly, I don't care what he eats."

'As expected from the Hokage's apprentice… they'll all make exceptional shinobi.' Kakashi exhaled loudly, watching the three arguing.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto demanded. "So you don't care if I die from malnutrition?"  
"No."  
"Sasuke-kun!"  
"What...?"  
"You bastard!"

Kakashi cleared his throat, catching the bickering trio's attention.

"Tomorrow, meet me at the place you met this morning." Kakashi said. "We'll start some training tomorrow… you know, just some testing on my part."

"What time?" Sakura asked hurriedly, seeing he was getting ready to leave.  
"8:00 a.m. sharp. Don't be late."

With that, the masked jounin waved and leapt down to the now slushy ground, leaving the way the group had come. He disappeared quickly from view, leaving the three chuunins to follow at a more leisurely pace.

Sakura sighed.

"You ok?" Naruto asked, looking at her with concerned eyes. "That genjutsu didn't drain you too much, did it?" She shook her head.

"No… I was just wondering…" Her voice trailed off. Sasuke glanced at her. "… I wonder what Iruka-sensei is doing right now…" Sakura whispered in a quiet voice.

………………………………………………………………

Umino Iruka shivered, rubbing his arms fiercely to keep them warm.

The cold weather permeated everything, making the snow country seem purely like a frozen landscape devoid of human settlements. Beside him, his fellow shinobi muttered softly amongst themselves, wearing thick layers of clothing to keep out the cold.

He blew out a long stream of condensation, watching it evaporate.

The winters in Konoha weren't this cold, this long, or this intense. He shivered again. He wondered how his students were doing.

Squad eight's missions had thus far been successful. There had been a total of nine casualties so far, but twenty-one men were still able to move and fight. He himself was one of the twenty-one.

He wasn't sure whether or not to be glad or upset about this.

God, it was freezing. The jounin wrapped the cloak he was wearing more tightly around his body.

Of course, Kakashi had been right. Iruka smiled grimly.

Before he'd had his first fight in the battlefield, the dark-haired jounin had imagined a quick effortless fight in which he escaped unscathed, with all the glory.

He had been in fights before, but never as bloody or as long as the ones he had been in recently. The thrill of knowing you were out in the field, defending your country, soon faded, leaving behind a blank monotony. He grew detached to the fighting after the first couple battles of heart wrenching horror and raw emotions, andbeing covered in another person's blood... blood of a person who was fighting for the same reasons as himself.

He felt like he was on autopilot.

A kunai whizzed through the air, puncturing the shoulder of the man right beside him. Shouts immediately broke the thin silence of the cold winter setting.

"ATTACK, WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

Iruka watched numbly as a man dropped to the white ground, dead, his crimson blood rapidly staining the pristine purity of the clean snow.

"EVERYBODY, GET INTO POSITION!"

There was a rush of voices, blurred figures moving rapidly in his vision. Iruka wondered vaguely why he was here.

Deadly pieces of metal were flying through the air, whistling and slicing the air as it hurtled by Iruka. A hand grabbed his shoulder, forced him to duck as a spear flew overhead. Iruka was shaken out of his stupor as he met the cold snow.

"What the hell's wrong with you!" An unknown voice belonging to a face he didn't recognize was snapping at him. "Get to your position!" The man scurried away to his own position.

Iruka's mind jolted into action as he rose carefully from the snow.

"MAN DOWN!" A Konoha ninja yelled. "COVER FOR ME, I'LL ALERT THE MEDIC-NIN!"

Iruka found his way to his assigned station, and immediately flattened himself against a tree trunk slippery with snow. He quickly drew out some weapons.

Ready.

He felt a quick burst of chakra coming from behind him, to the right. Iruka took a deep breath, and raising his arm, he quickly threw the kunai in his right hand.

Go.

He retreated quickly to the tree trunk again, hearing an anguished yell coming from the right. The dull thuds of weapons hitting the tree he was using as a coverbarely registered in Iruka's brain.

He threw the next set of weapons he held in his hands at a snow shinobi that was attempting to move closer to him.

Another man down.

Iruka readied another kunai in his hand.

"….."

He was back on autopilot.

…………………………………………………………………………

(**Author's notes:** )

I love you people! Thanks so much for reviewing! It's really encouraging to know people are reading this! (In fact, I got started on this chapter as soon as I received reviews for my last chapter! I was all fired up to write! Forget school work, long live fanficdom! Wahahahaha!)

**Mithua**: Yes, sorry about the cliffhanger last chapter! But on the other hand, no cliffhanger this time! And thanks for reviewing for chapters two and three! I love you!

**Sky**: sorry about the wait! Thanks for your encouraging review! I'll try to update next chapter quickly!

**Nocterayne**: Glad you like this, I like Kakashi Sakura pairings too! Yes, I have major things planned for this story! (author laughs insanely) Keep reading, keep reviewing, and I'll keep writing if you do!

**This is s e x**: Interesting name, this is s e x! (Do I really want to know why you call yourself that? j/k) Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**DreamerDust**: OOhh… love your name… so poetic! I'm glad you think it's well written. I'm not too sure about it myself…

By flashback, if you're referring to the italicized sections at the beginning of chapters 1 and 2, (excluding prologue), then no, it's not from Kakashi's point of view. What I'm trying to convey is Kakashi's father, who I simply call by the last name, Hatake, and his relationship with Haruno, Sakura's father.

This chapter's beginning should clear things up for you, if not, feel free to ask. (And I don't think you're stupid; I didn't explain what was going on for reasons that will be revealed in future chapters. Sorry if I confused you and others with that italicized section.)

**Jewel9992**: Thanks! Sorry but, Sakura and Kakashi will have a mild, normal-ish relationship for at least two more chapters. (Yeah, I wanna get onto the action too, but, ah well, I need to pace myself so that the relationship and the story seems realistic.)


	5. interlude I

(Author's note:) There will be interludes throughout the story, every couple of chapters. It relates to Kakashi's situation in the prologue; I guess you could interpret it as Kakashi's reflections on his past. It's mostly in Kakashi's p.o.v.

Next chapter is work in progress… Hope to update soon, kinda doubt it. Don't expect much yet. I've finally hit my first writer's block on this story…

………………………………………………………………

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter four;**

_**Interlude part I**_

_**Requiem for the lost**_

………………………………………………………………

_Do you regret…?_

...  
...

The fleeting existence of the fragile Sakura blossoms

...  
...

_Do you regret…?_

...  
...

The pain of striving to capture and retain the final perfection

…………………………………………………………………

**This pain wasn't supposed to happen.**

…

**By all rights, it shouldn't even exist.**

…………………………………………………………………

_Do you regret…?_

...  
...

The empty promise of ephemeral beauty

...  
...

_Do you regret…?_

...  
...

The humanistic echo reflected in those portentous blooms

……………………………………………………………………

**Her presence changed me…**

**I'm no longer who I thought I was.**

**I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.**

……………………………………………………………………

_Do you regret…?_

...  
...

The broken reflections seen in the calm surface

...  
...

_Do you regret…?_

...  
...

The disturbances in the water made by the inevitable descent of the blossoms

……………………………………………………………………

**I should have known it then.**

**But I didn't realize.**

**I was trapped in a labyrinth of illusions, created by my own delusional mind.**

………………………………………………………………………

_Do you regret…?_

………………………………………………………………………

**Or maybe… **

…**I was insane all along…**

………………………………………………………………………

...  
...

_Tell me… Do you regret your past…?_

...  
...

………………………………………………………………………

_**(End of Interlude I)**_

………………………………………………………………………

…

…

Author's Notes:Wow! Thanks for everyone who is reviewing, and especially my consistent reviewers! It's because of you guys that I'm churning out chapters at a record pace! (Usually, there's a two to three week wait for each chapter… Sometimes, even a month.)

**Mithua: **You've been my first reviewer for the past couple chapters! Yay! I love you! About the whole genjutsu thing, let me explain:

What happened was that team seven was already suspicious about Kakashi, because they are living in a time of war. Sakura performed a genjutsu on "Kakashi" while they were walking to the clearing, so that he would think that team seven was still with him. Once they got to the clearing, "Kakashi" put his own genjutsu on team seven, so they would think they were under attack.

Sakura thought she had put the real Kakashi under a genjutsu, and so under the cover of Sakura's genjutsu, Naruto went and put explosion tags on a couple weapons to create a distraction, once Sasuke found where "Kakashi" was hiding.

The thing is, in the end, they fell into Kakashi's traps anyways. He outsmarted them all! Hope that cleared stuff up!

**Bijou: **Yay! New reader! Yeah, the age difference is supposed to be 14 years, but I decided I didn't want Kakashi to be that old. (Using my artistic license! Bwa ha ha ha ha!)

**Nocterayne: **Yep! This story is most definitely AU. I think I said that in the first chapter. If not, well, now you know.

You, my friend, are very sharp. Yes, he met the baby Sakura at age 12. Yes, he knew Haruno, Sakura's father. (All will become clear in the future!)

Thank you for telling me about Kakashi! I thought that he graduated at an early age, but I couldn't remember. I've gone back and changed the things necessary in chapter four!

I don't take your comments as criticism! It was helpful, and you're one of my most favorite people in the cyber world!

(I don't know if anybody noticed, but I also changed Iruka's rank to jounin. I found out too late that he's actually a chuunin… but it makes better sense for him to be a jounin, as he's now the teacher of a chuunin team. Details, details!)

**Veracytzwolves**: Ooh… cool name! I love you for loving this story, even though it's not moving along very quickly!

**HatakeSakura**: kekeke… your name marks you as an obvious Kakashi Sakura fan… Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**Joyceeee: **I'm glad you don't think my grammar is too shabby. There're some typos here and there (Skuld's Sentaro 4, are you reading this story? Are you still alive?) koff koff which should be cleared up… some day, by my beta-reader. (Hopefully.)

But yeah, stories are easier to understand when the language is clear. I try, I really do. Thanks for reading this story!


	6. First enigma

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter five;**

_**first enigma**_

…………………………………………………………………………………………………  
...  
...

_The buildings in front of him were ablaze in fiery washes of orange and red. Fire danced in the village of leaf, screams echoing endlessly into the distance. And towering above the hellish dream stood a nightmarish demon with feral eyes._

_A slight silver-haired figure stared at the scene in front of him with masked horror. He had been gone on a S-class mission with a team of anbu members, for two weeks. Never had he imagined his homecoming to be like this…_

_"Hatake-San!"_

_The young anbu captain slowly turned, torturously ripping his gaze from the burning village in front of him. His white anbu mask showed faint traces of wear, and dried blood was visible as a smear on the wooden forehead._

_"Sir!" _

_"That is Kyuubi, is it not?" Kakashi asked in a slow, almost disbelieving voice. The young man who had addressed the twelve year old boy wiped a trickle of blood from his eye._

_"It is, captain Hatake." The man said gravely. "It turned unexpectedly from its' path and came to Konoha about 9 hours before." _

_Kakashi's gaze was drawn back to the monstrously huge fox demon. The demon's red eyes glinted in the lights reflecting from the fires below. Even as the pair stood, more buildings crumbled beneath Kyuubi's feet._

_Crazy, wild barks reverberated through the air, grating against the ears of all who heard the sound. And with growing horror, Kakashi realized, the fox… was laughing._

_"HATAKE-SAN… HATAKE-SAN!" _

_Another anbu member raced towards the two, mask hanging from his neck in broken halves. Panic was written throughout the man's face, contorting it into the frightened expression of a child. _

_He reached the pair, and skidded to a hasty stop._

_"Hatake-san!" The newly arrived man said desperately. Hatake Kakashi felt a growing sense of dread. "H-Hokage-Sama… the Hokage! He was defending Konoha against Kyuubi and the Hokage, h- he-!" The man was babbling, his eyes wide with horror, and face devoid of color._

_"Explain yourself." Kakashi said sharply. The man swallowed hard, his hands shaking._

_"The Yondaime is dead, Hatake-San. I j-just saw him pass away…"_

_"……!"_

_Kakashi stared at the man in shock. Then, as if in a surreal trance, the silver-haired boy swung around to stare at the demonic figure looming over Konohagakure. The long and vicious fangs were visible, even from this distance, and the sounds of sadistic joy could still be heard, in the form of cruel, mocking laughter. _

_He would never be able to forget that sound._

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…

…

"Again."

Cold dark eyes met the almost indifferent gaze of the speaker. A pale eyebrow rose at the look of pale fury on the dark-haired boy's face.

"Well…?"

Sasuke snarled out something unintelligible and launched himself at the elusive figure in front of him.

Flurries of blows were exchanged as teacher and student moved haphazardly throughout the training ground at a furious pace. The silver-haired jounin leapt up onto a tall wooden post and threw several shuriken at the dark-haired boy in one swift movement. Sasuke flipped backwards out of harm's way and performed a rapid series of hand movements.

A split second later, a massive sphere of fire erupted from the Uchiha's parted lips.

…

Two sets of eyes stared at the scene in front of them with awe.

…

The tall figure leapt out of the oncoming fireball's path too late and was enveloped by the raging flames. Within the inferno of fire, the dark figure suddenly disappeared. Sasuke let loose a couple of colorful swear words as he whipped around to face the real Kakashi who had appeared behind him.

"Sasuke-bastard's finally gone and cracked…" Naruto said with wonderment. The petal-haired girl standing next to him watched as Sasuke flew backward from an expertly placed kick on Kakashi's part.

"Those two are incredible…" Sakura said in a dazed tone as the Uchiha landed on the trunk of a tall pine and pushed himself off immediately with his feet. "You can barely see them moving…"

"Man, that jounin-guy has some crazy fighting skills…" Naruto said, waving his hands excitedly. Sakura glanced at the blond. Although she had healed the worst of his injuries after his own round with Kakashi, his clothes were torn and dirty, his hair was standing even more wildly than usual, and his chakra felt slightly lower than usual.

After watching Naruto's and Sasuke's fight with Kakashi, she wasn't too eager to fight their new teacher herself.

Sakura studied the man. His hitai-ate was still tilted down at an angle over one eye, but all traces of former lethargy had melted away as soon as he had started fighting. An expression of utmost seriousness covered what little could be seen of Kakashi's face.

"All right… Sasuke, activate your Sharingan now!"

The dark-haired boy let loose a smirk.

"Finally…" He muttered under his breath. "Let's see you how you do now…" A moment later, Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously as the dark onyx changed to the characteristic crimson red of the Sharingan.

Seeing the blood-red eyes, Sakura repressed a shudder. She'd seen Sasuke use the Sharingan numerous times in battles, but the unpleasant scenes that invariably followed were never enjoyable.

…

His Sharingan eyes reminded her too much of their past.

…

Naruto, seeing that she was uncomfortable, gave her a reassuring pat on the arm. She turned a somewhat shaky smile on him.

"Attack with all you've got."

Kakashi watched impassively as Sasuke's mouth unfurled into a Cheshire-like grin at the jounin's words. Naruto grimaced. He hated it when Sasuke did that. It made the Uchiha seem like an unhinged maniac, which was, essentially, what he became when he smiled like that.

"I hope you don't regret those words." Sasuke said, the black wheels in his crimson eyes rotating and picking up speed until they became a seemingly endless circle.

Kakashi's single eye regarded Sasuke stoically, and his hand lifted his hitai-ate a fraction of a inch higher. Sakura's brow furrowed. What was that man hiding underneath his forehead protector?

"Don't worry." Kakashi's eye bored into Sasuke's crimson ones. "I doubt you'll even be able to scratch me."

For a moment, the two remained staring at each other, the tense atmosphere holding them both under its hypnosis.

…

A bird called out, its' shrieking cry breaking the stillness.

…

At the bird's first cry, Sasuke disappeared abruptly. Kakashi swiftly righted his hitai-ate to its' correct position.

"……!" Sakura and Naruto exchanged shocked glances.

The silver-haired jounin leapt sideways and rebounded off a tree trunk, aiming a punch at Sasuke's jaw. Sasuke ducked and rammed his shoulder into Kakashi's stomach as he came back up.

(Poof!)

Sasuke kicked aside the log as it fell towards his foot.

"Replacement technique, hm?" He said aloud, his eyes scanning the clearing. He jumped aside as a volley of senbon came flying at his torso. Sakura took a step forward.

"Sasuke-kun! Be careful!" The pink-haired girl said frantically. "The jounin- Kakashi… Kakashi-sensei has a sharingan eye!"

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"What…?" His crimson eyes stared at Sakura in shock. "Impossible!"

'Only members of the Uchiha clan possess the Sharingan!' Sasuke's fists clenched. 'How is this possible?'

His attention was jerked back to the fight as three waves of weaponry attacks came in quick succession. The dark-haired boy dodged each attack with uncanny accuracy, only to come to a surprised halt as he felt something tug at his ankle. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. 'A trap!' He realized as he stared at the thin piece of rope around his ankle.

"Shit-!" Sasuke cursed. 'Chakra-enhanced.'

The dark-haired boy gave way to a startled exclamation as he was jerked off his feet, into the air. He never lost his head for an instant. He speedily performed a series of hand seals and within seconds, had created a shield-like ring of instantaneous fire around him.

Kakashi warily backed up as the sudden barrier of fire blasted the air around him to an almost unbearable temperature.

"……!" The silver-haired jounin dropped to the ground, and ignoring the two other chuunin's looks of surprise, rapidly performed a series of hand seals. Naruto and Sakura watched in fascination as the jounin completed the final seal. Kakashi slammed both hands into the earth.

Immediately, a wall of earth rose, just in time to block the innumerable attacks of fire coming Kakashi's way. The jounin grunted.

"Hn.. He's got pretty good chakra control." He muttered aloud. Kakashi removed his hands from the humongous wall of earth, allowing it to fall back onto the ground. The jounin whipped around as two Sasukes appeared behind him, accompanied by a cloud of smoke.

The two identical boys launched themselves at the jounin. A sharp kunai glinted in one Uchiha's hand, while the other held several shuriken at the ready. Kakashi smiled behind his mask as Sasuke threw the shuriken at him.

Sakura gasped as the jounin simply blocked the attacks with his arm. All six shuriken embedded themselves deeply into the silver-haired man's arm. The other Sasuke flew headlong into the man and stabbed at the jounin's neck.

"…!" Sasuke's crimson eyes widened in shock as warm scarlet liquid washed over his hands. "What the…?" The Sasuke standing slightly behind the pair felt a slight touch on his shoulder.

**(Author's Notes: You have to remember, there are _two_ Sasuke's here, though one is obviously a clone. Now which Sasuke is the real one, hm..? ;)**

Kakashi smiled at the Sasuke nearest him, despite the blood, and grasped his bloody hand on Sasuke's pale wrist. Sasuke's pale face contorted. '… A suicide clone…!' The jounin spoke.

"Surprise."

Sakura and Naruto stumbled backwards as the area in front of them exploded. Kakashi appeared in front of them, holding onto the real Sasuke, who had been standing behind the clone of Sasuke and Kakashi.

The pink-haired girl and Naruto stared uncertainly as the silver-haired jounin deposited the dark-haired boy he was holding unceremoniously onto the ground. Sasuke stared at the jounin, his sharingan receding back to the usual onyx black.

"You!" Sasuke said, staring up almost disbelievingly at Kakashi. "Your eye!" Kakashi calmly tugged his hitai-ate down again.

"My eye… is indeed a Sharingan eye." The silver-haired man said calmly. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he tried to clamber to his feet. Kakashi looked amused. "Don't bother. You won't be able to move for a good while. I used Subaki no Genki on you."

Sakura stared down at Sasuke, realization dawning on her face.

"The energy-draining technique…" She said quietly. Sasuke's pale face turned towards her. "It drains Chakra from a person, taking the energy with it. You won't be able to move properly for a couple hours, Sasuke-kun." Sakura paused. "You should also get to the hospital, so they can stabilize your Chakra system."

Sasuke swore under his breath, glaring at the tree beside. Kakashi cleared his throat.

"You did a lot better than I expected, with or without your Sharingan ability." The jounin said, leaning against the nearest tree. All three stared at him. Not a single scratch. Just as he had promised.

"Why do you have the Sharingan?" Sasuke growled. Kakashi stared at him.

"I really don't feel like telling you." Kakashi said after a long moment. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"……"

The jounin straightened and looked indifferently at the Uchiha before turning his gaze onto the girl who was helping Sasuke to his feet.

"We'll have to put further training on hold until Sasuke gains his strength again." Kakashi remarked. "But since I didn't test you yet, Sakura," Kakashi paused, meeting her nervous emerald eyes. "You can meet me here early tomorrow, at dawn break."

Sakura inwardly winced as she and Naruto each took half of Sasuke's weight on their shoulders. She'd been hoping he would forget about her.

"Hai, sensei."

…………………………………………………………………………………………

…

…

"Look at you two! You look as if you've been fighting out in the field!" The nurse chided, taking in Naruto's and Sasuke's disheveled appearances. Sakura and Naruto led Sasuke over to the hospital bed, where he immediately collapsed. The nurse frowned. "Is Uchiha-san alright?" She asked, checking his pulse.

Naruto and Sakura sat down simultaneously on the chairs.

"He had an Energy-Draining technique done on him." Sakura explained with a tired wave of her hand. The nurse paused, her brow wrinkling.

"Aa… then it looks like we will have to stabilize his chakra system." She said after a moment. Sasuke glared up at her suspiciously.

"What the hell does that mean?" He growled.

"It simply means that we will need to balance your remaining chakra and open some temporary chakra holes in your system." The nurse explained soothingly. Naruto stirred.

"Why do you need to do that?" He asked, his face scrunched up in confusion. Sakura sighed.

"If the nurses didn't balance his remaining chakra, Sasuke-kun might feel ill." Sakura explained. "Also, the first step and the opening of chakra holes are to ensure that Sasuke-kun's chakra is restored at a safe and even level." She finished with another wave of her hand. Naruto only blinked.

The nurse poked her head out of the room.

"Call a chakra medical technician!" She ordered. The nurse pulled her head back into the room and smiled at the prone, motionless boy.  
"It'll be just a few minutes, Uchiha-san."

Silence descended the room for a long moment. Then, Naruto cleared his throat.

"Well, you got beaten pretty badly there, Uchiha."  
"Thanks for that lame observation, idiot." Sasuke replied sarcastically.

Another long silence filled the room.

"That guy is really good." Naruto said aloud.  
"Aa, you noticed?" Sasuke said mock thoughtfully.

Silence.

"I wonder how he got the Sharingan." Naruto muttered.  
"……"

The nurse regarded the Uchiha boy with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Who exactly did you fight, Uchiha-san?"  
"Hatake… Kakashi…" Sasuke said slowly. A small smile appeared on the nurse's face.

"Ah!" She exclaimed. "That would explain much."  
"……?"

Sakura leaned forward in her chair.

"What do you mean?" She asked, puzzled. The nurse grinned.

"You three have never met Hatake-san before, have you?" She asked. All three chuunin shook their heads, mystified. The nurse chuckled.

"Hatake-san was called a genius in his childhood…" The nurse explained. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "His father was one of the best shinobi in Konohagakure, and Kakashi-san himself became an anbu captain at age twelve."

The three chuunin exchanged startled looks.

"…Anbu…?" Sakura repeated in disbelief. The nurse nodded. Naruto's jaw dropped.  
"But… but, they're like, the _elite_ shinobi!" Naruto sputtered.

"……" Sasuke's eyes closed, as if in weariness.

Sakura's mind replayed the fights she had thus far seen with the silver-haired jounin. His quick reaction time, uncanny sense of prediction, and usage of jutsus… they all fell into place. If Kakashi-sensei had been a former anbu commander, then fighting the three chuunin must have been a pushover task.

Despite herself, the pink-haired girl groaned aloud, and buried her face in her hands.

"It makes sense." Sasuke muttered after a minute of absorbing this unexpected information. As much as he hated to admit it, if the nurse had told the truth, Hatake Kakashi was far above his own level.

…

Damn, he hated how some things worked out in life.

…

Unexpectedly, a small smirk appeared on the Uchiha's lips.

"No wonder Naruto and I couldn't touch him."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…

…

(**Author's Notes:**) Wah! There you go! 6 pages done in 2-3 days! A record! That writer's block wasn't as serious as I thought it was!

Technically, I'm spending way too much time writing this story right now. I certainly enjoy it, but school is getting hectic for me, since the end of the school year is finally approaching. I'm seriously doubting my sanity in pursuing this leisure activity when I have a ton of homework to do right now, and all these other stuff to do too…

But hey, this is my only form of enjoyment, so I may as well continue. But writing this is so boring! I can't wait to get on to the action! (My lips are sealed.) I estimate 20 plus chapters at max.

I was really surprised to receive reviews for the last chapter, since it was so short, and it was only an interlude. Thank you all!

**December Jewel: **Waaaah! You were the first to review this time, congrats, and I appreciate the fact you took time to read and review! You rock!

**Nocterayne: **As always, your beautiful words of encouragement never fails to amaze! Thank you for your understanding support (and never fear, I never post what I consider second quality work if I can help it. In fact, I had to rewrite the top portion of this chapter twice!)

I happened to check by your profile page, as I was curious to know what type of dedicated readers were leaving reviews to this story every chapter! Imagine my shock when I read your profile page…. j/k. I won't ask. Whatever type of person you are, I still respect you a whole lot.

**Mithua: **you liked my interlude, I'm happy! Yes… I actually have some poems published in the net and in a couple books of poetry.

Kinda starting to doubt my writing abilities, so I am taking this whole story on as a personal challenge. My other stories have been put on hold, regretfully.

**HatakeSakura: **Yes, all the interludes will be that short, but the good news is, most of the interludes will be shortly followed by an actual chapter! Was this chapter long enough to suit your tastes? Hehe…

**Yukari of Konoha: **(Author cries tears of joy) New reader and reviewer! Welcome to the internet world! I appreciate all reviewers and readers! I feel honored that mine was the first Naruto fan fic you read, and that you liked it!

Strange that everybody likes the work I've been posting on this story so far. I'm very critical of myself, and that's worked positively and negatively for me. But anyways, yeah, like I said… can't wait for the future myself!

**Veracytzwolves: **Crying Concealed Tears? Like the title, never heard of it. Is it a Naruto fic? By last part, were you referring to the 'I was insane all along' phrase?

No worries, no worries. It's part of a series of poems I had stuck in my head. (Finally, a chance to use it! xD)

Thank you everybody for reviewing and reading! Your wonderful words of encouragement are one of the only reasons these chapters keep on coming out!

Look for the next chapter, coming out as soon as I get around to finishing it! (It's half done, by the way.)


	7. dormant world

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter six**

_**Dormant world**_

…………………………………………………………………………………………

"_Do you feel lonely?"_

_"No."_

_"Do you ever feel sad?"_

_"No." _

_"Really…?" Small hands scattered pastel yellow petals onto the grass. "I would if I had no mother." Upon hearing these words, Kakashi stiffened._

_"That's not your business." He said curtly. The little girl appeared unaffected._

_"Do you have any friends?"_

_"……"_

_Hatake Kakashi pushed himself up into a sitting position and stared inscrutably at the small girl beside him. Really… he was being asked the most ridiculous things… Kakashi frowned slightly at the girl, who stared back at him with clear emerald eyes. _

"… _Friends…?" Kakashi repeated slowly. _

_Somehow, whenever Haruno-san came over to the Hatake family's house, the four-year old girl was almost always, quite inevitably, given to his care. His gaze studied the innocent expression on her face. She was such a child._

_"Un! Friends!" Sakura said happily. Kakashi frowned behind his ever-present mask and rubbed his anbu tattoo subconsciously. 'Friends…' Kakashi contemplated the word. The child sitting beside him on the grassy hill watched him curiously. The white-haired adolescent silently watched a sparrow fly by, skimming precariously above the treetops and buildings._

_"……" Kakashi thought back to a time when he hadn't been an anbu captain, when he had only been a mere genin. In those days, he had had trustworthy comrades. In those days, he had laughed without reserve. _

_In those days… he had still had a mother… comrades… friends…_

_"Kakashi Niisan…?" A small voice asked hesitantly. He jerked his gaze back to encounter Sakura's solemn gaze. Kakashi was saved the necessity of having to answer her at her next words. "I'm hungry." She said plaintively._

_He rose gracefully as the girl clambered awkwardly to her own feet. _

_"Let's go get you some food, Sakura-chan." He said briskly. _

_"Hai!"_

_As the pair left, Kakashi stole a glance back at the shady hill._

_"……" His mismatched eyes closed briefly. _

'_Friends…'_

……………………………………………………………………………………………………  
...  
...

Kakashi removed his hand from the cool, rough surface of the stone memorial. Small droplets of rain had begun to fall, creating symmetrical patches of moisture on the earth beneath his feet.

He stood, dusting off his knees of dirt.

Winter was almost over; the snow had come and gone, leaving behind just a faint memory of its presence. The air was still sharp, but no longer bitingly cold. Konoha winters never lasted long. In the physical sense, anyways.

In mental terms, the clock never worked correctly. At times, the wheels would rush frantically, leaving him dazed and wondering where the time had all gone. Where were all the people that he, Hatake Kakashi, had grown up with? It seemed impossible that a large amount time had elapsed since the present and yesterday. Where was he and what was he doing? Did he even have a past?

The wheels of time just kept turning and turning, always in the same direction.

At other times, the hands of the clock never seemed to move.

They simply remained frozen, trapping the silver-haired man in a state of seeming endlessness. Eternal torment, not knowing when he would be released from his reoccurring nightmares… No, not nightmares, but reality. His own reality.

..  
And that was the scary truth.  
..

He couldn't forget his past. He simply couldn't. Kakashi would've have given almost anything to be able to be free from the manacles that bound him. But he couldn't.

It wasn't that he didn't want to. Oh, how he wished he could forget. Forget everything; the pain, the suffering, the wretched days and nights of his past existence…

He certainly didn't need his past. He didn't want to be reminded of who he was, and how he had become the person he was today; the person with no family or friends. All he had left were memories of people engraved on that cold, black stone.

And much good those names did him. The only purpose they served was to remind him of his lonely, meaningless, and painfully won survival.

…

He didn't want his past. He didn't need it.

…

He could do perfectly well without it.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

…

…

…

Sakura impatiently rubbed her bare arms, hoping the friction would warm them. Rain had been steadily falling for about an hour now, and she was cold. Cold and wet. Not to mention cold.

Did she mention she was cold _and _wet?

The pink haired girl felt quite out of place in the colorless, drab forest. She'd been waiting in the now muddy clearing for two hours. Two whole hours of staring at the monotonous setting, hoping to see the ambiguous figure of yesterday. And the last hour, she had been standing in the rain, getting soaked.

She was pretty sure that the man had told her to be here at sunrise. Not that she could actually see the sun. The day had been pretty gloomy since she had woken up.

"He's late…" Sakura muttered for what felt like the millionth time. In a burst of anger, she stamped her foot petulantly, her green eyes narrowing in anger. "I'm cold and I'm wet!" She growled, ignoring the splotches of mud now staining her legs. "When he comes, he's sooo dead…" She muttered. "Making a female wait for two hours… I can't believe him…"

She stared at the transparent rain. It was starting to rain even harder. Great.

...  
Four coherent thoughts found their way into her head.

'I'm cold…'

'I'm wet…'

'He's late…'

'He's dead…'

...  
The pink haired girl paused. 'They rhyme…' She thought, much intrigued by this simple fact. The cold rain had probably somehow penetrated her skull and done something to her brain. Maybe she was going into shock because of the cold?

Raindrops fell onto her outstretched hand, collecting into a small pool in her palm.

Tsunade-Sama had told her that when the cold became too extreme, people started hallucinating and acting weird. What was the term..? She couldn't even remember. All she knew was that she was cold.

She had already jumped around, ran around the clearing, and done all the things that popped into her mind to keep herself warm, until it occurred to her that she was wasting energy.

She would need to conserve what energy she could if she was going to "train" with Kakashi-Sensei.

She dropped her hand, not bothering to wipe it on her clothes, which were wet anyways.

"I'm cold, I'm wet, He's late, He's dead…" Sakura said aloud in a singsong voice. Might as well keep herself amused. Sakura immediately sighed and closed her eyes. All she could hear was the sounds of steady rain. She could barely hear her own breathing.

...

Her thoughts wandered to the jounin who was supposed to have met her here two hours ago. Probably more than two hours by now.

He hadn't seemed like anything spectacular, when she had first seen him a couple days ago. If anything, she would have passed him by on the streets, dismissed his presence. He was the type who could blend into his surroundings like that.

...

Interesting how deceptive appearances could be.

Looking at him- his somewhat messy hair, lazy expression, and slouched posture- Sakura would never have guessed that the jounin, Kakashi, had been an anbu captain. She wondered what sort of man he was, what sort of life he had led.

'Why isn't he an anbu commander anymore…?' She wondered, her eyes still comfortably closed. The cold wasn't so bad. Maybe she was getting used to it. It wasn't snowing, either. Winter was almost over. But she was still wet.

Sakura opened her eyes, brows furrowed.

She was almost positive that she had seen him before. Back at the bridge, when she had first seen Kakashi-sensei, a brief memory had stirred in her mind, but it was too vague, too undefined. She couldn't fully grasp what she had seen.

Perhaps she had passed him on the streets some time before?

Sakura frowned. She wasn't used to not remembering what she wanted to. Her almost photographic memory usually allowed her to recall her past with precision. Why was it failing her now?

...

She blinked as a trickle of rain made its way into her eye. The rain was still pounding relentlessly.

She sighed. It didn't really matter. She barely knew this Kakashi; why waste her time trying to remember where she might have possibly seen him?

…

He still wasn't here. He had been three hours late the first time they met. Maybe being late was a habit of his…?

…

Sakura smiled wryly. 'If I wasn't a shinobi, I would probably be a lot worse off than I am now.' She had chakra, medical techniques, and good health. They were the only reason that she was still standing here, shivering in the rain.

A normal person would be turning blue by now.

A normal person would be dead if they faced a ninja.

She was not a normal person. She was a kunoichi.

A kunoichi of Konohagakure. That made all the difference.

The chant she had made found its way into her brain again. Sakura smiled.

...

'I'm cold, I'm wet, He's late, He's dead.' She repeated to herself. Sakura blinked as more rain trickled down her face. 'I'm cold, I'm wet, He's late, He's dead.' She chanted, amused.

The pink haired girl suddenly laughed hollowly, her brief amusement fading rapidly.

"Who am I kidding…?" She said aloud. "I'm the one who's going to end up dead."

"That's not very positive."

"……!"

Sakura jumped as a deep male voice spoke behind her, and spun around to face the speaker, kunai in hand.

A masked, silver-haired jounin regarded her with an unreadable, dark eye, his clothes just as wet as hers. Sakura stared back at him, too surprised to speak. 'When did he get here…?' She wondered, her heart still pounding furiously.

Then, Kakashi smiled, lapsing back into the laidback person that she had seen thus far.

"Sorry, did I startle you?" He asked, taking a step back from her. Sakura warily lowered her weapon, still eyeing him. His hitai-ate covered what she remembered as his Sharingan eye, and his shoulders were hunched in their customary pose.

"Maybe." She answered. She dropped her gaze. His dark eye reminded her too much of Sasuke.

Kakashi watched the girl with a mild expression as she put the kunai back into the weaponry pouch at her waist. She hadn't sensed him coming, but that was to be expected. Her reaction had been a trifle slow, but respectable nonetheless.

He wondered how long she had been here, waiting for him to show up.

Kunai stored safely back in her pouch, Sakura faced Kakashi again, fully aware that he was studying her.

...

She looked wet.

And cold.

And annoyed.

Her petal-pink hair was completely soaked, dripping water, and plastered to her head. Her clothes were in a similar state and clung to her skin. Kakashi abstained from studying her body too much. She would probably get the wrong idea and slap him. And he had heard rumors about Tsunade-sama's amazing arm powers. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of those punches.

Kakashi cleared his throat, ignoring the rain that was soaking through to his skin.

...

"Well… Haruno-san, were you here at the time I told you to be?" He asked conversationally. Sakura sent him a scathing glare.

"You mean about two hours ago, when the sun supposedly rose?" Sakura said through clenched teeth. "Yes, I was here." She replied. Kakashi nodded.

"Aa… good…" His eyes moved from her to their surroundings. "Punctuality is always a good thing for a shinobi to have." He said.

Sakura closed her eyes, willing herself to remain calm.

"I was here, sensei, but where were you?" She asked in a falsely sweet voice. The silver-haired man inwardly nodded. 'I was right… she is mad.'

"Oh… I was… around…" He said vaguely. "I had places to go… people to see… things to do…" Kakashi ignored the rising ire that he felt coming from the girl, opting to look at the trees instead. The pink-haired kunoichi opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off before she had the chance.

"How's the Uchiha?"

Sakura blinked.

"Oh… Sasuke…?" The girl forced her mind to recall the events of yesterday. "He's probably alright. If you had absorbed all of his present chakra, he might have become physically ill, but he's only sleeping." She frowned. "Still, what you did was dangerous."

"Hm." Kakashi started to turn away, disinterested, when Sakura's voice stopped him.

"You didn't tell us you were an anbu captain."

The silver-haired man barely reacted, only regarding her with an uncaring eye. Curtains of falling rain separated the two, but they could see each other without much difficulty. The pink-haired chuunin flushed at the unruffled yet distinctly displeased expression in his visible eye.

...  
She felt like she had just crossed an unseen boundary, and was stepping into dangerous territory.  
...

"Why is that necessary for you to know?" He asked coolly, still staring directly at her. Sakura dropped her gaze, uncomfortable with the concealed intensity of his gaze.

This man was dangerous.

"Um… nothing… I just thought it was interesting…" She mumbled, eyes downcast and evading his steady stare.

…

Kakashi turned away from her, holding back a sigh. He raised his hand and wiped rain water from his eye. He hadn't meant to startle her.

"Sorry. Guess you surprised me." Kakashi said, just barely loud enough for the girl to hear. She raised her head cautiously, her brow furrowing, as she took in his semi-apologetic tone.

The silver-haired man pulled down at his hitai-ate, feeling wet fabric and cold, slick metal.

…

He'd been feeling jumpy the past few days, ever since he met Iruka's students. At first, his unease had been unnoticeable, not bad enough to distract him from his everyday activities.

But the sense of disquiet had progressively worsened each day.

Something had triggered his subconscious mind; now, he was remembering bits and pieces of his past that he had had no intention of ever visiting again.

…

Haruno Sakura's reference to a time that was still the source of his inner turmoil, unsettled him.

This wasn't a coincidence.

...  
(**Author's Notes: I was actually going to end this chapter around this point, but people kept saying they wanted to see the battle. Oh well. Read on. There are still four more pages to go.**)  
...

Kakashi didn't believe in coincidences. He had come to learn that nothing happened by accident.

"Kakashi-sensei…?"

The silver-haired man came to himself abruptly, found himself still standing in an empty, drab forest full of only the sounds of rain falling. He didn't bother turning around.

"Attack me." He said curtly. Behind him, Sakura shifted.

"Um… right now?" She asked uneasily. "But you…" Her protest died away as she realized how ridiculous she would sound.

Kakashi smiled grimly.

"Attack me with all you've got." He said, his eyes roving the clearing. "If you don't, I won't be able to get an accurate representation of your skills."

In answer, a kunai pierced a neat path through the rain, heading straight for the unmoving jounin. Kakashi easily swiveled on his left foot and in one graceful movement, had caught the sharp weapon.

He shifted it with one quick flick of his hand and threw it towards the pink-haired figure standing in the branches of a tall tree to his left. The jounin sent three more kunai's in quick succession towards the girl, who dodged all the weapons with ease.

Sakura cursed under her breath as she nearly slipped on the branch, which was slick with rain and moss.

"……!"

The pink-haired chuunin swiftly raised an arm to protect her head as Kakashi appeared before her. He countered her punch and sidestepped her kick, almost sending her to the ground with a well placed elbow attack to her cheek.

Sakura grimaced and jumped away from the jounin, using the trunks of the tall trees to propel herself forward. Taijutsu wasn't her strong point at all. It was one of the reasons that she was the weakest on her team.

She gasped as she felt a hand grasp her ankle in mid-jump. Her emerald eyes widened in shock as Kakashi yanked downwards on her foot, changing the momentum of her jump. Sakura plummeted towards the ground and disappeared in a puff of smoke as Kakashi threw a kunai at her body.

The rain was making things difficult for him. He squinted, trying to part the grayness with his eyes. All the smells mingled together, coated with the earthy smell of a wet forest. He couldn't smell the girl's scent anymore than he could hear her light footsteps over the incessant raindrops.

...  
He waited, patiently, for some small hint to reach him.  
...

A trickle of water found its way down his forehead and dripped into Kakashi's eye.

"……"

Sakura, well hidden within her genjutsu, watched the man from a distance. He was standing quite still, as though listening for something.

...  
She had to end this quickly, before he figured out he had only been fighting illusions.  
...

The pink-haired girl carefully made her way to the tree he was standing in, her face pale from the strain of keeping a genjutsu on the anbu level jounin. Sakura reached the base of the tree and stopped, readying herself to release the genjutsu.

Kakashi's eyes focused on an invisible point on the ground, beside the tree he was standing in. He could detect a small amount of chakra beginning to gather, even through the genjutsu he knew he was in.

"Found you." He said softly.

The silver-haired jounin brought his hands together for the seal necessary for the breaking of a genjutsu.

"Kai!"

Immediately, he spotted the vibrant-haired girl standing below him. Her head jerked up to stare at him as she realized her genjutsu had been broken. Kakashi smirked as she heard her curse audibly.

"You don't have enough chakra left for a full out battle with me, Haruno-san." Kakashi observed from above her. "Genjutsu takes considerable more chakra energy than ninjutsu or taijutsu." He watched as she appeared to ignore him, chakra gathering in her hands.

Kakashi's eyes widened when Sakura suddenly let loose a mischievous smirk. She placed one hand on the rough wood and looked up at the silver-haired man.

"Sayonara, Kakashi-sensei."

She threw a shuriken at the jounin, who dodged it without trouble. The jounin's eyes widened as he realized the chakra was spreading rapidly throughout the surface of the tree. 'That shuriken was a distraction…!'

Sakura quickly backed away several paces from the tree, as her chakra reached the jounin's feet before he could jump off.

Kakashi's eyes met her cool green gaze for a split second.

…

(**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!**)

…

Sakura threw up a hasty hand and dodged behind a nearby tree as chunks of wood flew through the air. A billowing cloud of steam appeared in the clearing, making her cough.

The sounds of several large pieces of wood hitting the ground reached her ears.

The pink-haired girl waited for several moments, until she deemed it was safe to leave her cover. She emerged cautiously from behind the tree trunk, stepping carefully over broken pieces of wood.

...  
...  
"My… that was quite an interesting jutsu."

Sakura glanced behind her shoulder and with a sinking sense of disappointment, saw that the jounin was standing behind her, looking quite unruffled and unharmed. 'So it was only a clone afterall.' She thought, letting out a regretful sigh.

"Thanks…" She replied.

The pair picked their way through the debris and came to a stop before the wreckage of the unfortunate tree that had held Kakashi's clone.

The rain had lightened to a damp drizzle. Steam swirled beneath their feet, moving gently to the wind.

...  
...  
Kakashi shook his head.

"If that had been a real person, they would have had a very quick and painless death, if somewhat violent." He observed. Sakura glanced at the tall man.

"This was my first time using it. It was kind of a spontaneous thing…" She admitted.

"Aa…"

"So far, I've only experimented with it, but I never tried it seriously before." She said, picking up a sliver of wood and fingering it. Kakashi glanced at her.

"I've never seen it before… is it a medical technique…?"

...  
...  
Sakura shrugged.

"… It's actually one I've been working on…" She said, glancing at the jounin. "I was studying chakra with Tsunade-sama, and I began experimenting with chakra flow on my own…" She cleared her throat, embarrassed at the intent look Kakashi was giving her.

Kakashi was mildly impressed.

"You invented your own jutsu…?" He asked, half-admiringly. "That's no small accomplishment, Haruno-san."

"… thanks…"

"So how does it work?" Kakashi asked. Sakura's brow furrowed in concentration.

"Well, what I did was push my chakra into the tree-" Seeing Kakashi's raised eyebrow, the pink-haired girl hastened to explain. "With indirect contact, I can enter my chakra into inanimate objects, because of their extremely low chakra levels. It wouldn't have any affect on me, except for depleting my chakra levels, of course."

"Aa…"

"And once the chakra reached you…"

"My clone exploded." Kakashi finished. Sakura nodded.

"Chakra is almost always positive inside our bodies, but becomes negative when it comes out," She explained, brushing back a stray wisp of hair. "So I kept testing, until I found a series of hand seals that keep chakra positive, even after it's expelled from the body. That way, if contact of two different types of chakra occurs, they'll reject each other, and create an explosion."

"……" Kakashi stared at her. "…I see…"

...  
...  
This girl wasn't ordinary. He wondered vaguely why she was still a chuunin.

'With brains like hers… she should be planning out battle strategies for the war.' He thought. Kakashi shook his head.

...  
...  
The silver-haired jounin's eyes met Sakura's eyes for a brief moment. For a second, neither of them moved.In that frozen moment, a vague face floated into his mind. Kakashi took a startled step back, breaking the tense silence. Sakura looked up at him with wide green eyes.

"Alright. You can go." Kakashi said abruptly. "Tell the other two that we're meeting here again, tomorrow morning, same time." He turned around, effectively shutting out her gaze.

Sakura swallowed hard.

"H-hai." She turned and soon disappeared among the gray tree trunks and scenery.

…

As soon as the pink-haired kunoichi was out of sight, Kakashi raised an unsteady hand to his head, leaning against a tree for support.

That instant he looked into her eyes, it was as if a dam of memories had broken through his mind. The jounin drew in a deep, shuddering breath. As quickly as the unfamiliar memories had entered his mind, they had disappeared.

As if they had never existed.

No matter how much he tried to recall those fragmented images he had seen, he couldn't see past the hazy darkness.

But he had caught a glimpse of petal pink tresses in his mind. The same shade as those of the girl who had just left.

But how…? He didn't recognize her… he doubted he had known her before, so whose memories had those images belonged to…?

Déjà vu…?

He doubted it.

This same feeling had struck him, their first meeting at the bridge. But he hadn't recognized it for what it was.

No, there was no such thing as coincidence.

That girl held some connection to his past.

And he intended to find out exactly what.  
...

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

(**Author's Notes:**) Gasp! That was 10 pages! 10 pages! I was satisfied with how this chapter began, but I really wanted to get rid of the whole Kakashi and Sakura fight scene. This chapter didn't really need it, and it seemed to ruin the whole tone of this chapter.

Whatever. If I read it later and hate it, I'll rewrite this chapter. I had serious writer's block and time constraints. In fact, I just spent 4 hours doing this when I should be doing a project due tomorrow. I'm such a procrastinator! XD

I thought I had this story planned out, but it's wandering off a bit. Oh well. Reviewers can tell me whether or not they like what's going on. I finally stepped up Kakashi's and Sakura's relationship though… could you tell…? Remember, this is a gradual Kakashi Sakura fic, so be patient folks!

**December Jewel: **Good question! I thought this question might come up… Does Kakashi know whether or not Sakura was the baby he held? I dunno… you tell me! XD

**Nocterayne: **I agree. Blood is a very poetic substance. I never thought about it that way, but your perception is amazing.

I know a lot of people were looking forward to Kakashi's and Sakura's fight scene, and I apologize if it seems a little lackluster. I wasn't planning on actually writing out their fight scene, because this chapter would have been better without it, but I worked my reviewer's wishes into the chapter. If the next reviews all say this chapter sucks, then I'll rewrite it… T.T

Thanks for your always beautiful words of encouragement!

**Mithua: **Ahaha! I'm glad people like my fight scenes. I actually worry that I put too much detail into them, but you're right, a lot of thought goes into what's happening during the fight. I'm a martial artist, so visualizing what happens during a fight is a natural thing for me.

About the whole Kyuubi and Yondaime thing, just assume that Yondaime died after he performed the seal. Remember, Kakashi was standing quite a distance from where Kyuubi was, so the amount of time it takes a person to travel a couple miles is quite a while. I dunno. I don't plan on making this part too clear, since it's really not relevant. But I'll make up a better explanation if you really insist!

**Me: **Wow! You reviewed twice in a row! Thanks! I have a livejournal account, but I don't use it much. I've used it a total of 5 times.

**Jemiul: **Hm. I was a little worried that I overpowered Kakashi. I'm glad people aren't commenting on that though! (Woops… I've just dug my own grave… )

**MP1: **What gives you the idea this won't be a happy ending? XD

My lips are Believe it or not, your review kinda depressed me. Oh well. Each writer has their own style. Mine happens to be boring at first, then absorbs readers, according to you. Thanks! (But can you tell me why you weren't sure about my fic at first? Just for future reference?)

**Veracytzwolves: **I updated fast last time, but this time took a while, huh? Hehe! Yes, this is a Kakashi Sakura fic. A gradual one. Says so somewhere in the beginning. By gradual, I mean… well, gradual! XD

Was there enough interaction between the two in this chapter?

**Cruisegirl86: **Thanks for liking this story! It's different? In what way? I'll take it as a compliment!

**DreamerDust: **You're very welcome! (Why were you thanking me again?) I have short term memory…

**BlackMoonSky0000: **I was just in the middle of trying to upload the latest chapter, when up pops your review on my email screen, and freezes my computer. My computer's jacked up right now, so I was having real problems uploading this chapter.

Anyways, I'm glad you liked it! I hope you like this chapter!

Interesting how people keep commenting on my battle scenes! (Which reminds me, I need to update my other story… oh well.) Wow! Your review was so in depth and insightful! I'm so glad that you commented on the whole Kakashi and Sakura's fathers relationship! It's actually pretty important to the whole story, and I'm glad you caught that! (Oops… shouldn't have said that…)

Don't worry. I don't plan on rushing Sakura's and Kakashi's relationship, where they meet and kiss in the next minute. I don't like those kind of stories, because they are highly unrealistic. I've been getting a lot of recommendations to read leafygirl's stories. I'll try, when I'm done with this story. I don't want this story to be influenced by any other Kakashi Sakura stories, or it might seem like I'm copying.

Saikai story means Reunion story. It's based on a song by Camui Gackt, a j-pop singer.

Thanks for reviewing everybody! Keep my inspirations coming!


	8. Lost memories

(Author's Notes: To lessen confusion; this chapter after the italicized section, starts a couple hours after Sakura's episode with Kakashi.

- secondly, Jiraiya is mentioned in this chapter. Just assume that he and Naruto already went on their trip and that the whole Sasuke and Orochimaru problem already happened. This might be explained, but probably not, as I don't plan to connect it to this story. )

…

…

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter seven**

_**Lost Memories**_

…………………………………………………………………………………………

..  
..

_He'd been betrayed_.

_Hatake had risked everything in order to save his comrades… and they had betrayed him, deceived him, lied to him._

_His own words, said one clear day long ago to his old friend, Haruno, came back to him; 'I am afraid of the future… of what is to come…'_

_He would never have guessed that the dark future he had feared, would come to be._

* * *

Hatake Kakashi stared at the dead body in front of him. Tense silence hung heavily in the atmosphere as Kakashi gazed dumbly at the fallen man before him. The Anbu team who had brought the body back shifted uneasily but maintained a respectful silence.

_No matter what suspicions surrounded the White Fang regarding the circumstances of his death, he and his son were still highly regarded in the world of shinobi._

_Kakashi's expression was covered by the wooden face mask he wore, but when he spoke, his voice shook slightly._

_"Who killed him?" Kakashi said in halting tones, his eyes locked onto the familiar figure on the ground. A sense of painful horror and disbelief gripped him, rendered his emotions mute and his body numb. _

_The casualties of the war that had promenaded throughout his life were piling higher and higher. Kakashi wasn't sure if he could handle anymore blows._

_"Who killed him?" He repeated, his voice stony and fists clenched hard enough that blood had started dripping to the thirsty ground below._

_Reluctant to provoke their captain's wrath, none of the anbu answered._

_There was only the uncaring wind whispering meaningless words into his ear._

_Kakashi's father stared up at him with blank, unseeing eyes, his face contorted by a horrible grimace._

_The unrelenting silence was broken by the movements of one anbu, who had been steadily shifting closer to his stricken captain through the solemn anbu team. The silver-haired teen hardly noticed the approaching footsteps, until a soft voice spoke low words only for him to hear._

"_They'll be after you next, Hatake-Dono…"  
"………!"_

_"You know they won't rest until you are gone also."_

_Kakashi slowly turned his head to face the man behind him. Behind the white face mask the other wore, the anbu captain caught a glimpse of pale gray eyes that glinted oddly in the light. It didn't register in the stunned boy's mind that he had never seen those eyes before._

_"… Why…?" Kakashi whispered._

_"The night is rising, Hatake-Dono." The man whispered in a grating, sinister voice. "Those who seek to destroy Shizune's memory have joined with fire's enemies."  
__  
"…Shizune…?" The anbu-captain whispered. Kakashi stared at the gray-eyed man, seeing his own pale reflection in the mirror-like eyes. Cold amusement sparked dangerously in the oddly tinted eyes._

_"…The night is rising, and there is no way to stop it from reaching you, Hatake Kakashi…"_

..  
..

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

..  
..

"Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked up belatedly and encountered two pairs of eyes, one dark and the other light, staring at her. The pink-haired girl stared blankly at the two in front of her. It took her a moment to realize where she was. It took her another moment to collect her thoughts in order to answer.

"Huh?" She pasted on a bright smile. "Sorry… I'm tired… guess I was zoning out… "

She certainly wasn't lying about that.

Naruto seemed satisfied with her answer, but Sasuke stared at her with an unreadable expression, his onyx eyes boring into her own. Sakura stared back, with an innocuous expression. The dark-haired boy looked away.

……

The Uchiha was still in the hospital, for health safety procedures. His chakra levels were close to being completely restored, and he was due to be discharged from the hospital next morning in order to begin training again.

He hadn't been a cooperative patient.

Throughout his whole stay at the hospital, he had alternately sulked, grumbled, or fallen completely silent. Although he didn't throw loud and obnoxious tantrums, his silent glares and deadly cold expression was enough to freeze any warmth around him, particularly for those who weren't familiar with him. Only four nurses in the whole hospital were brave enough to enter his room and stay there for longer than 2 minutes.

Not only that, but treating him also proved difficult.

His chakra levels were higher, much higher, than the average chuunin's, being an Uchiha and all. That and the little fact that he had trained with one of the legendary three for some time, receiving a consistently painful reminder of that episode for his troubles. A mark on his neck that had never faded, maybe never would.

….

The first nurse that had been sent in to restabilize(1) his chakra levels ended up unconscious when Sasuke's curse seal flared up, due to the power-up of chakra, knocking Sasuke out as well. Nobody was quite sure why the nurse had fainted though. The second nurse collapsed from exhaustion and chakra- drainage, not having expected his chakra levels to be so high.

In the end, it took three people at once to reestablish the Uchiha's typical chakra level.

After that, most of the nurses stayed away from the raven-haired Uchiha, whispering of bad karma and bad attitude. Not that that stopped half the females in the hospital from giving the young man gifts of flowers and candies. The delivery man was becoming quite familiar with Sasuke, and had taken to leaving each afternoon with, "See you tomorrow!"

Sakura was surprised that Sasuke had been as cooperative as he had been. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he couldn't move at all. But now that his physical and chakra energies were restored, she doubted he would stay at the hospital until tomorrow morning. The nurses that came in to discharge Sasuke tomorrow would probably find an empty bed upon entering.

The pink-haired girl let her gaze linger on the handsome Uchiha's face. Although her childhood crush had faded, at times, she still felt a wistful longing in her heart, a touch of nostalgia, a breath of quiet want for his attention.

Her gaze lingered on his sharp, lidded eyes. Their resemblance to another person's darkly tinted eye was amazingly similar. Sakura's gaze grew troubled.

Overhead, the sounds of the speaker system came to life.

"Doctor Hanazawa, please call extension 5672, Doctor Hanazawa, please call extension 5672."

Silence descended in the room for a brief moment.

Then, the blond boy resumed his rambling tale of his latest misfortune, which he had been telling for the last half hour.

"So anyways, this lady comes out and sees me, right?" Naruto didn't wait for an answer. (No answers were forthcoming anyways, so it didn't really matter.) "Well, she stops beating up Ero-senin, and points at me!" He said indignantly. Sasuke stared at him with an expressionless face. "I mean, imagine…" Naruto shook his head sadly. "I wasn't even there to do any sort of bad stuff, you know? I just happened to be there, passing Ero-senin by chance…"

"You're pretty good at being at the wrong place at the wrong time, Naruto." Sasuke remarked in a detached manner.

Naruto ignored him.

"Well, she pointed at me, and then she and some other old farts come and start beating me up!" Naruto said huffily. "Look, I even have the bruises to prove it!" He exhibited tiny bruises marring his tanned skin like polka dots on his arm. Sasuke's eyebrow rose a millimeter. "Come on though, I'm not even interested in _that_ sorta stuff anyways," Naruto said, dropping his arm. The blond paused, and glanced sidelong at the kunoichi. "Um… well… maybe except for Sakura-chan…" He said in a loud whisper. "I can make an exception for her."

Both males looked automatically at Sakura, expecting her normal shriek of outrage and subsequent slap.

None came.

Sakura's attention had strayed once again to the window, through which she was staring in an oddly distant, vacant manner. She didn't even have appeared to notice the sudden silence that had fallen in the hospital room.

Sasuke frowned.

"What's wrong with you?"

The pink-haired girl looked around with a start and met Sasuke's slightly suspicious gaze.

"What?" Sakura blinked. "Nothing's wrong with me… I'm fine, really!" She lied. Naruto lapsed into a more serious demeanor.

"Sakura-chan… did something happen to you?" He asked. Sakura looked at him, distantly noting his taller frame and leaner face and body. Amazing what time did to people. He was just barely recognizable from the small boy with the bratty face. His eyes were more thoughtful, his expression more mature, his voice deeper. "…Sakura…?" The pink-haired kunoichi sighed.

…

Honestly, she had no idea what _had _transpired back at the clearing. But it had been preying in her mind all day. The silver-haired man had imprinted himself in her mind's eye and she couldn't rid herself of his image.

When they had neared each other, something significant had occurred. And she hadn't been the only one to notice it.

Yes… she was sure of it.

The jounin had felt the vivid connection, just as she had felt it. The slight widening of his eyes told her as much, as did his abrupt step backwards.

Ever since their first meeting, she had been feeling unsettled. Now, ever since the fight at the rainy clearing, the feeling had strengthened. There had been a sudden meeting of their eyes… a shared breath of surprise… and an onslaught of dizzying visions and unfamiliar memories.

Then it was gone, and she had been sent away from his presence too quickly for her to work out what had happened.

But… the foreign feeling inside her hadn't disappeared.

……

Impossible… yet… the feeling of welcoming the familiar…

……

"…… Sakura……?"

The kunoichi swallowed hard, met Sasuke's unblinking gaze. His dark eyes probed into her, with unsettling aptitude. She needed to get away from her teammates… she needed to _think._ Sakura quickly shook her head, broke eye contact with the Uchiha.

"Look… I… I think I need some fresh air…" She said to the wall. Naruto watched her with worried eyes. "Kakashi-sensei told us to meet him at the clearing… tomorrow morning at daybreak…" She mumbled. The pink-haired girl quickly headed for the door, ignoring Naruto's restraining hand. "See you guys later."

The door shut firmly behind her, leaving the hospital room silent once again. The blond gaped at the door, then at Sasuke.

"You bastard!" He exclaimed, rounding on the calm Uchiha.  
"What'd I do now?" Sasuke asked in a slightly irritated fashion. Naruto gestured at the closed door.

"You upset Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, rolling his eyes at his obtuse teammate. (**Author's note: Oh, the irony… XD**) "She left because of you!"

Sasuke's expression turned into a more thoughtful one.

"No." He said, not bothering to look up at the blond. "She didn't leave because of me…" After four years of being with Sakura and Naruto, the Uchiha had come to interpret them with ease. Sasuke's brow furrowed slightly.  
"Then what the hell was she so upset?" Naruto demanded, looking frustrated and bewildered.

"……" Sasuke stayed silent for a long moment before answering. "Something else is bothering her… " He said quietly. "Maybe something happened during her fight with our new … teacher…"

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…

…

"Ridiculous."

Ino gave a dismissive toss of her long ponytail.

"You probably just imagined that you knew him."

Sakura sighed.

"Yeah, I guess it does sound strange…" She said moodily. The petal-haired girl stirred her drink slowly.

The two friends had met by pure chance on the street outside the hospital, and had gone to a nearby café as a result. Winter was almost gone, but the weather was still a bit frigid. The café had become a sort of refuge and sanctuary for the two kunoichi, due mainly to the peace and the excellent food and beverages.

It was here that Sakura ended up spilling her entire feelings to Ino, who had listened rather patiently… for the most part.

The blonde girl sipped her hot coffee drink and watched the people passing in the streets outside the tinted glass window. Sakura stared at the steam rising from her own cup of fragrant tea.

"What'd you say this guy's name is?" Ino said after a moment of watching the silent girl beside her. Sakura didn't look up.

"Kakashi… Hatake Kakashi, I think." Sakura said.

Ino's brows furrowed.

"Hold on… I remember that name now…" The blonde said slowly, tapping her fingernails gently against the polished wood surface. Sakura looked up with a bit more interest in her eyes. "Asuma-Sensei mentioned that name a couple days ago…" Ino frowned. "Something about him returning to Konoha for the first time in…" Her voice trailed off uncertainly. "um, a long time." The blonde finished lamely. Sakura shot her a slightly amused look. "I think he said something like, six, no, nine years…?"

Sakura stared at her with a thoughtful look on her face.

"And Shikamaru also mentioned that a Konoha jounin had returned about two weeks ago after a really long time." Ino recalled. "Because Shikamaru apparently met a ninja he didn't know in the streets, and he almost raised the alarm…"

Sakura slowly sipped her tea.

"So maybe Kakashi-sensei has been gone from Konoha for a long time… and he has just returned," Sakura mused. "Which would explain why I get the feeling that I've seen him before." Ino nodded absently, her eyes wandering over the people in the street.

Sakura shook her head. The pieces of the puzzle still didn't fit.

"Even if I met him as a child, I would remember who he was, and how I know him…" she muttered. Ino glanced at her. "And if he's been gone such a long time, how is every adult I've seen so far so familiar with Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked Ino.

"How should I know?" She said, eyebrows raised somewhat irritably. "And why shouldn't they?" Ino demanded. "Maybe he lived in Konoha for a while, and then he had to leave, and now he's back."

"That's obvious," Sakura returned. "But the nurse at the hospital… she knew Kakashi-sensei, and so did your teacher… how does everybody know him so well if he's been gone all these years?" The pink-haired girl frowned. "No… he probably knew them as children," She mumbled.

Ino said nothing. She was too used to Sakura thinking aloud, that she no longer even noticed.

Sakura stared at the tiny dark fragments of tea leaves at the bottom of her cup.

"But… that feeling… was too strong… those images in my head, too vivid, to have been a coincidence or random occurrence." Sakura said quietly. Ino raised an eyebrow.

"What did that feel like?" She asked curiously. "I mean, what happened?"

Sakura shuddered.

"I'm not sure…" She fell silent for a moment, trying to choose the right words to explain the unusual reaction she had felt when she looked the jounin in the eye. "When I met his eye, it was as if… as if…" Sakura paused, reliving the sudden burst of connection that she had felt. "As if a closed window in my mind had suddenly opened." Ino watched her troubled friend with impatient eyes.

"Go on…" The blonde kunoichi prompted.

"I remember seeing brief images… " The petal-haired girl said slowly. "An onslaught of visions- like memories!" Here, Sakura quickly looked up at Ino. "But, they couldn't have been mine, because I didn't recognize anything!"

"Hm."

"But… like I told you… for the smallest of moments, it felt like I _knew_ Kakashi-sensei, and that he was connected to the… memories…" Sakura said, looking back down at her tea. The blonde girl tapped thoughtfully at the wooden surface of the table once again. She didn't know what to think, what to make of this situation.

Obviously, Sakura's brain must have been overworked with all the chakra usage, and she had probably imagined this deep "interaction", this brief "connection" she had felt with a man she barely knew.

That's what Ino would have said at any other time, with a wave of her hand. Except for the sincerity on her old friend's face. Despite ups and downs in their friendship, Ino still knew Sakura better than almost anybody.

Ino couldn't discount the earnest expression as Sakura talked of the strange images she had seen. Sakura's palpable frustration at not being able to figure out why she felt she knew this Kakashi in the first place… that was alarming in itself.

The blonde kunoichi couldn't recall a time… not even once, where Sakura's memory had failed her. Even memories from Sakura's early childhood were recalled with relative effortlessness. A trait that was both a blessing and a curse for the pink-haired girl.

Ino sighed.

"Do you remember any clear pictures?" She asked, half-curious, half-doubting. "Did you see any definite images?"

Sakura thought for a long moment, reviewed the dizzying rush of vague scenery and blurred faces she had seen.

She raised her head, turned to face Ino's expectant face.

"Him. I saw him… " Sakura said, positive at least of this one detail.

"… What…?" Ino said dumbly.

…

"I saw Kakashi-sensei."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…

…

(Author's Notes:) (1) restabilize actually appears to not be a word, according to my Word. I just thought I'd mention that. Summer vacation's finally here, but I'm still so busy that it's ridiculous. Ugh.

I actually don't like the way this chapter turned out. I got a new computer, and all my fanfic info and chapters were in my old computer, so I had to start from scratch again for this chapter. Ah well. This was supposed to be a 'find the important information in this chapter and get a prize!' Kinda chapter… hopefully, you guys have gotten some of the clues that I've dropped about the direction of this story here and there…

Next chapter will be an interlude, and kakashi sakura interaction should start picking up little by little.

**December Jewel**: Your question was: Did Kakashi know Sakura was the baby he held? Well.. last chapter and this chapter hopefully answered your question!

**Nocterayne**: Yes. I actually tried leafygirl's stories, and yes, I have already read Courage needs you. Eris' Puppet is a very eloquent writer, and leafygirl is praise-worthy also. I was going to avoid reading other kakashi sakura stories, but the recommendations were too tempting! If anybody reads InuYasha fanfics, I recommend all of Cappie-chan/ Cappie's stories. They are excellent!

Yes. Gackt's history isn't all that admirable. But I still like his songs. Sakai Story had a lot of emotion in it, and his voice isn't bad. But I totally agree with his disloyalty to Malice Mizer. Not that I know much about it… ah well.

**Mithua: **Yeah… the jutsu took some thought, but it wasn't as well thought out as I wanted it to be. Information about me is on my profile page. Not that there's much on it.. but the information you wanted is there!

**Tears of Hell 1428: **Question to you, o enthusiastic reviewer of mine: What does Segoi desu mean? (I speak nil Japanese except for disconnected words.) Yes. Your killing intent certainly killed my computer. Just don't kill my new one please.

I liked your comment that "Sakura ask Kakashi all those things. She really knew what to talk about. It already show how much intelligent she was." She might have seemed to be asking all the right questions to make Kakashi dig deep into himself, but you have to keep in mind, she's only four in the last chapter's flashback. (Kakashi is 11 years older in my fic.) Children have an amazing, perhaps unknowing insight. There really wasn't a pointed purpose when she asked those questions, just childlike curiousity. But the reader should have felt the intensity with which Kakashi took her questions. Glad you caught it!

When you read stories of mine the first time, it's just words; read it the second time through, you start catching things that make more sense now that you have information about this and that. Bits and pieces come together as you go further into the chapters. Sakura's father and Kakashi's fathers relationship will be revealed later on, as will their relevance to Kakashi and Sakura's current non-relationship! (Whoops! Said too much!)

Yes, Sakura's parents are alive. At least, her father is, I haven't decided about the mother.

Sakura's older brother has no name. He really wasn't too significant to this story. He was just there to show how important Sakura's birth was to her parents, since they had already lost a child.

**Hatake Sakura: **I'm glad you think my writing is improving. Except for longer chapters, I don't really see a difference in my writing style myself… When you said thanks for an aweful story, did you mean awful as in horrid or aweful as in wow, you're awe-inspired! …? (I'll just assume it's the latter… .) In anycase, you're welcome. I think…

**Jemiul: **Sakura is 15 in current time, and Kakashi is 11 years older than her, so he's 26. I made him a bit younger … eheheh….

**Thanks also to the other reviewers who left words of encouragement and support! We've almost reached the 50 review line! Yay!**


	9. interlude II

(Author's notes:) This is all written in Kakashi's point of view.

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter eight;**

_**Interlude part II**_

_**Nocturnal Solitude**_

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_Alone._

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..

_For nine years, alone._

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..

_My mother dead, my father killed._

_My comrades gone, as are my teachers._

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_Of the people that were close to me in my childhood, none remain._

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..

_Only me in my nocturnal solitude._

...  
...

_Only myself, keeping my lonely vigil._

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_Nine long years spent outside the village that was my birth home. _

_Nine years spent with relative strangers, who feared me, distrusted me, ignored me._

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..

_I had nobody beside me._

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_Isolation became my company, the night my friend._

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_Only memories haunt me now, the vague outlines of people that have left me here on this dismal, mortal world. _

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_They have gone, and I remain._

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_Wounds heal, scars form, and are imprinted forever into my skin._

_Timeless._

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..

_The darkness has blinded me, comforted me… shielded me. Solitude has effectively prevented me from creating new bonds._

_Bonds that are all too easily broken._

_No strings bind me, hold me down. _

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_The night has kept me from pain, blended itself with the shreds of insanity making its inevitable way into my mind. I don't know if I am the same person I was as a child anymore. I'm heartless, soulless, and brain dead._

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_My body is simply a container for basic needs. _

..  
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_I don't need to love in order to live. The little humanity I have left inside me is better off where it lies undisturbed. The trials I endured nine years before are not ordeals that I can handle successfully the second time through._

_This is the pathetic shell I have been reduced to._

_Yet, a necessary change for my survival._

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_Now that I have returned to my home village, I wonder._

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_I see the people around me, _

...

_Laughing,_

_Crying,_

_Smiling,_

_Loving…_

...  
...

_They have something that has been torn from me too many times. Now my heart is barren, my soul left with incomplete gaps._

..  
..

_I have nothing left._

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...

_Nothing left to give._

_Nothing with which to receive._

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_And I_ _wonder, as I look up at the starless night which has been my protective barrier._

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_I wonder, as I relive the precious memories that have kept the fading embers of my soul burning._

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..  
..  
..

_What do I live for now?_

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**_(End of Interlude II)_**


	10. Thawing winter

'testing testing one two three' thought

"testing testing… you get the idea" speech

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..

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter nine**

_**Thawing winter**_

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..  
..

_Kakashi watched the slightly stooped back of the tired elderly man before him with a face devoid of expression. The third Hokage sighed._

"_They are after you." Sarutobi said after a long moment of silence. Kakashi inclined his head slightly._

"_I am aware of that." He said in a voice as apathetic as his face. The third turned and regarded Kakashi with a contemplative air. The silver-haired boy's latest anbu mission had taken its toll on him. Weariness was etched in every corner of his visible face, and he had grown gaunter. The past six months had been busy for Kakashi._

_He lived alone now, in the large house that had hitherto been filled with his father's warm presence. These days, Kakashi rarely ever returned long enough to Konohagakure to sleep in the empty house._

_Kakashi spoke, his expression guarded, his eyes watching the Hokage with shuttered eyes._

_"You're planning to send me away, aren't you?" It seemed less of a question than a statement. Sarutobi clasped his hands behind his back in his customary pose._

_"At this point, it would be in your best interests." The third Hokage said placidly. Kakashi stared levelly at the old man. "The danger has grown. You know that he has formed a new village."_

_"Night… The village of night…" Kakashi murmured. Sarutobi nodded._

_"But what you do not know is that he recently forced a sound and earth village into his submission." Sarutobi watched as Kakashi absorbed this information with narrowed eyes. "His forces are growing."_

_Kakashi stood in stoic silence for long moments. The third Hokage was about to speak again but he was cut off by the soft voice that sounded from behind the black fabric mask._

_"He still believes that my family has what he seeks for." Touches of slight derision and underlying weary acceptance were discernible in his voice. _

_Sarutobi sighed again._

_"Yes. And that is exactly why it is so dangerous for you to be here. Both for Konohagakure… and you." The gray haired man said. Kakashi regarded him with his mismatched eyes, unreadable in its calmness._

_"Do I have any choice in the matter?" He asked quietly. Kakashi knew the answer even as the words left his mouth. His eyes closed briefly, blocking out the Hokage's silent apology._

_"Kakashi… this is for your own good."_

'_So this is how it's to be…' Almost sadly, the silver-haired anbu captain opened his eyes, glanced at the old man, and was soon enveloped in an instantaneous cloud of dense smoke. _

_The third Hokage stared broodingly at the spot where his anbu-captain had stood moments before. A troubled expression crossed his face._

'_Kakashi. Forgive me.' Sarutobi thought, with his head bowed. Sighing, the old man sank slowly down on his chair and wearily dropped his head onto his hands._

……………………………………………………………………………………

_..  
.._

**(4 weeks after Sakura's test-fight with Kakashi)**

..  
..

"What?"

Three pairs of eyes looked at him with varying degrees of shock. The silver-haired jounin looked away momentarily, with an air of uninterested carelessness.

He had received the news yesterday, after the customary training time with the chuunin. It hadn't surprised him, to say the least. Kakashi was far too used to the battle field to be anything more than resigned to the decisions made by powers higher than he.

A small, bitter smile touched his lips briefly, unseen behind the black mask.

He should have guessed that Iruka would be detained near the battle lines. The ex-anbu's attention was jerked back to the present situation when an angered roar sounded in the air.

"Don't joke with us!"

Naruto moved forward swiftly, his blue eyes suddenly wide and blazing. Sasuke and Sakura jumped to intercept him, fully aware of what the blond intended to do.

"Don't be stupid, Naruto." Sasuke said in a tone sharper than usual. The trio had trained long enough with Kakashi to know that he was a dangerous man, no matter how laid-back and apathetic he appeared externally. Their respect for the ex-anbu had risen markedly over the course of a month, as they saw more and more of his skills, even winning over the grudging approval of the stoic Uchiha.

Sakura held desperately onto the blond's (1) arm, her own face pale and worried. Kakashi stared levelly at the struggling boy in front of him.

"What do you mean he's not coming back for a while?" Naruto growled, still struggling to get to the jounin. Kakashi sat, unperturbed. "He's been gone over a month… He should be back by now!" Sasuke grunted as the blond boy inadvertently elbowed him in the stomach. "How much longer is it going to be before he comes back from the battle field?" Naruto said, his voice steadily growing louder.

"As long as it takes." Kakashi said steadily, unmoving before Naruto's escalating fury.

Sakura and Sasuke dug their feet into the ground, attempting to drag the blond back some distance. The Uchiha's eyebrows lowered in annoyance when Naruto didn't budge.

"AND HOW MUCH LONGER IS THAT, HUH?" Naruto yelled, blue eyes blazing, tanned face paling. "IRUKA-SENSEI COULD BE DYING OUT THERE, AND YOU- YOU," Naruto struggled for words. "YOU'RE JUST SITTING THERE, LIKE YOU DON'T EVEN GIVE A DAMN— "

"This is how it is when you live in a time of war, Naruto." Kakashi interrupted in an emotionless voice. His visible eye gleamed strangely. Looking at him, Sakura repressed a shudder. "Get used to it."

The silver-haired jounin abruptly rose to his feet, and disappeared after a swift hand movement. The three chuunin stared at the dissipating cloud of smoke in silence.

"Damn." Naruto uttered a soft curse under his breath, and quickly slipping his arms out of his teammates' grasps, he walked off, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. The raven-haired Uchiha and the girl were left staring after the orange-clad teen.

He was the closest to their former teacher, who had been a father figure to the orphan blond. Naruto was not one to easily forget any kindness, and over the years, he and Iruka had formed an unbreakable bond.

Sakura wanted to run after the blond boy, tell him that Iruka-sensei would be alright… but something held her back.

The two stood in uneasy silence.

Sasuke spoke first, his own hands slipping into his pockets out of habit.

"I'll take it there's no training today then." He said, thin eyebrow raised. Sakura's gaze turned to him.

"… Yeah…" She said, in a dazed tone.

"Stupid bastard elbowed me…" The Uchiha muttered. He stared at the direction Naruto had left with an irritated expression on his face. "I'm going, then." Sasuke nodded to her, and was soon lost in the numerous bodies that were walking down the streets of Konoha.

The petal-haired kunoichi stared distantly after the Uchiha.

..  
..

Somehow, unconsciously, she had felt that this would happen.

She had seen other men of fighting age leave Konoha, their wives, children, or mothers calling after them desperately, bidding them farewell, clinging to them as if they were afraid they would never seem them again.

She had watched them as she passed by, feeling sympathetic, and walked on without another thought.

…

How cold she had been…

…

She had never experienced firsthand the devastating effects of the exhaustingly long war the shinobi countries were embroiled in. As innocent as the fragile flower blossom she was named for, the shielding leaves that had hitherto covered and protected her from the horrid truth were slowly falling away.

Now, the reality of Iruka's situation struck home terribly.

For the first time, the possibility that she might never see her teacher ever again occurred to her.

The man who had taught her to walk as she took her first tentative steps from the ninja academy… Her mentor and friend for over four years, Iruka-sensei had been a warm, gentle person- quick to laugh and anger, and just as swift to forgive.

_He's not going to be coming back anytime soon… he's been detained for a while longer in order to fight…_

Sakura stifled a rising sob with her hands pressed hard against her mouth.

And then, she ran.

Without direction, and not knowing why she ran, the petal-haired girl broke into a furious run.

With the sudden realization that Iruka-sensei might die on the battlefield, the crimson-stained world outside her safe walls were visible through the glass of her windows.

And she was terrified… terrified by the thought that death eventually came to all…

..  
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There could be no escape…

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……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………  
**(later that day)**

..  
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"She's not at the hospital?" Sakura repeated blankly.

The nurse nodded, a little hurriedly.

"Tsunade-Sama said that she will be up at her office all day." The dark-haired woman replied rapidly. "I'm sorry Sakura-san, but I need to tend to a couple patients right now…"Sakura nodded, seeing that the nurse was needed elsewhere.

"Thank you, then."

The pink-haired girl turned to leave, allowing the nurse to return to her patients. The kunoichi left the hospital wing, entering the crowded hallway full of patients and hospital staff members.

"Sana-san! The jounin in room 215, bed 2 needs to have his bandages changed!"

"I'll do that as soon as I'm done with this patient!"

The hospital was more crowded with patients than usual. Being situated directly in the center of a shinobi village, the Konoha hospital was kept fairly busy, but the amount of ninjas in the hallways troubled the petal-haired girl.

Seeing the amount of people still waiting to be treated as she passed the waiting room, Sakura was glad that she wasn't required to work shifts at the hospital right now.

"Transporter! Run down to the lab! We need the results on the tests for Mr. Hayasaki immediately!"

"Yes sir!"

The kunoichi made her way past a wan looking shinobi male who was waiting outside a recovery room with tightly clasped hands and smudges of dirt on his clothes and face. She wondered who it was that he was waiting so anxiously for.

"Excuse me! Coming through, coming through!"

Sakura jumped aside as a gurney (2) came hurtling towards her with alarming speed. As she watched the gurney pass by, she caught a glimpse of a pale face surrounded by hair wet with blood.

"……!"

For a second, it was Iruka's face that was covered in blood, his body that was writhing in the moving cart in agony. Sakura's eyes widened in horror, before she realized that the man who had passed by had jet black hair instead of the brown hair she was accustomed to seeing.

The petal-haired kunoichi wrenched her gaze away from the shrinking figure pushing the gurney, and left the hospital quickly with downcast eyes.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

..  
..

"Tsunade-sama…?"

The Hokage looked up sharply to see a girl with cropped pink locks peeking at her around the door. The blonde woman's face visibly relaxed into a more welcoming expression.

"Ah… Sakura-chan…"

Sakura slipped inside the spacious office and came to stand in front of the Fifth's large wooden desk. Keen brown eyes studied the girl, narrowing at the traces of redness at the corner of the emerald eyes. Tsunade sat back in her chair, still watching her former apprentice.

"So… what brings you here?" The fifth Hokage questioned after a moment. Sakura flushed.

"Oh… well… I just…" She mumbled to the ground. Tsunade smiled affectionately. Really… the girl was so transparent, that it was almost ridiculous.

"Sakura."

At the sound of her name, the kunoichi looked up hesitantly at the Hokage. Tsunade raised an eyebrow, prompting the girl to talk.

"Well, it's about Iruka-Sensei…!" Sakura blurted out. A knowing expression touched the older woman's face. "I heard from Kakashi-sensei…" Here, she stopped uncertainly, then continued on haltingly. "I heard that Iruka-sensei is going to be detained at the battle site…" She finished. Tsunade simply looked at her. "I…Is it true?"

"Yes." The Hokage answered with a briefly penetrating expression. Sakura swallowed. "It might not seem like it, but Umino Iruka's squad has a very important mission…" The Hokage sighed aloud, her brown eyes troubled. "The line they are holding must not fall." Tsunade said quietly, her gaze moving from Sakura to the open window letting in the sunshine illuminating her desk.

Sakura looked down at the wooden floor.

"I understand that you don't want anything to happen to him, Sakura," Tsunade said suddenly, still facing the window calmly. "But Konoha is at a tricky stage right now, with the war and strained alliance with the sand… We need all the available shinobi out there on the field sooner or later."

Silence descended the room as the pink-haired girl absorbed her Hokage's words.

Then, she leaned forward hesitantly, the hitherto dulled expression on her face dispelled by the new thought that struck her.

"Then why don't you--"

A sudden rapping on the closed door interrupted the kunoichi's words. Tsunade regarded the pink-haired girl with her piercing eyes before turning to the door with a sigh.

"Come in." She called, with bits of irritation laced into her voice.

Sakura straightened again, biting back the spontaneous words she had wanted to say.

A tall silver-haired jounin entered the room, halting when he saw the pink-haired figure standing in front of the Hokage's desk. Sakura's eyes widened.

"Kakashi-sensei…"

He nodded at her without the slightest change of expression, his eyes moving to the Hokage after a moment.

"You had a mission, Hokage-Sama…?"

At his apparent dismissal of her presence, Sakura lowered her eyes again, feeling a little hurt. After over a month of acquaintance, she would have thought that he might have acted a little friendlier. Then, she remembered the events of this morning, and Naruto's angry outburst at the jounin.

Sakura inwardly winced.

Perhaps Kakashi-sensei was angry at their team for acting so childishly…? If he was angry, he didn't show it. If anything, that was made him such an uncomfortable man to be around, if this morning's incident was anything to go by. Reminded of her initial reason for being in the Hokage's office in the first place, Sakura's expression clouded distinctly.

The kunoichi cleared her throat slightly.

"Well, I'll just be leaving then…" She said, with a respectful bow towards the older woman. Kakashi's gaze finally shifted to the petal-haired girl who was just turning to leave. Tsunade scratched the back of her neck in an unlady-like manner.

"No," Sakura froze in the act of reaching for the doorknob. "Actually, you don't have to…" The Hokage said breezily, her eyes shifting to the jounin standing quietly beside his student. "The mission will involve you, Sakura. So stay."

A little put back, the pink-haired kunoichi did as she was told with only a questioning glance at the silver-haired jounin standing patiently near her. Kakashi was observing the Hokage with a markedly lethargic air around him, with his hands entered casually in his pockets again and visible eye half-lidded. Sakura silently looked away, unable to explain to herself why she felt so disconcerted by the fact that the man hadn't once met her eyes properly since this morning.

…

She could never be sure of herself around him.

Over a month ago, she had thought, rather irrationally, that perhaps she was connected to the unfamiliar jounin by some inexorable, impalpable link. As Ino had pointed out, her thoughts were more likely caused by a befuddled state of mind that had conjured up nonexistent ties with the enigmatic ex-anbu. The images, the sudden emotions they had produced; that strange ethereal moment had felt so vivid, so realistic …

But despite everything… Except for the ever present feeling of tenuous inexplicable familiarity with the silver-haired man, her strange and perhaps one-sided connection with the jounin had progressed no further than the one established on that cold rainy day.

Or perhaps… it had never existed.

…

Sakura bit her lip, looked sideways at the jounin who stood passively, shoulders slumped.

…

She couldn't decipher the man- it was simply too hard a task. There had been times during their training that she had thought he reacted strangely to her presence, but these moments were short and few, passing by quickly for her to discern what had happened.

It could all have been her overactive imagination… There had been times when even she doubted her own sanity. But nothing could dispel the feeling that subconsciously, she knew the silver-haired jounin. It was the one solid, identifiable thought regarding Hatake Kakashi, and it was what kept her from completely dismissing the strange connection the petal-haired girl sought.

Sakura came back to herself with a start when she realized the Hokage was speaking.

"Hatake, until Umino Iruka returns, you have assumed full responsibility for Cell Seven, correct?" Tsunade asked the silver-haired man. He nodded.

The blonde woman regarded Kakashi with a contemplative expression, her finger gently tapping her chin.

"Most of the available jounin I have at the moment are off doing other missions, or being gathered as back-up for the squads holding the lines." Tsunade said abruptly. Kakashi said nothing, though Sakura shifted a little uneasily.

The Hokage stared steadily at the ex-anbu captain.

"What class mission is it?" He asked in a calm voice.

"B… at the moment." Tsunade said grimly. "It might turn into an A class one, depending on circumstances."

Sakura chanced a glance at the silver-haired jounin, and encountered his dark eye already on her. Kakashi studied the petal-haired girl for a second longer before turning back to the older woman.

"And what sort of mission is it?" He questioned. For answer, the blonde woman reached down to her right and the sounds of a drawer being opened, papers rustling, reached the two shinobi's ears. A moment later, Tsunade was holding a large scroll in her hands. Sakura studied it curiously, whereas Kakashi spared it the most minimal of glances.

"There's been a change of positions in the snow and earth countries," Tsunade said quietly. "It is of utmost importance that this scroll reaches the intelligence squads stationed near the earth countries." Kakashi's eyes moved back to the scroll. "There are already two other jounin teams that have been sent out to the other stations two weeks ago when we first received word that the snow shinobi had changed position." The blonde Hokage angrily narrowed her eyes. "I should have known that the Earth would move too…"

"They're allied?" Kakashi asked, showing little surprise.

"It would appear so." Tsunade said shortly, a displeased expression on her face. Kakashi briefly closed his eyes. Thefifth Hokage sighed. "I won't lie. It will be dangerous, especially for chuunin." Here, Sakura made a protesting sound in her throat before subsiding at Tsunade's raised eyebrow. "You'll be going very close to enemy territory, and the journey must be made in the shortest amount of time possible."

Silence descended the room.

After a long moment, the ex-anbu turned almost reluctantly to the petal-haired young woman standing tensely near him. She met his dark gaze without shrinking, though she was surprised that he was looking directly at her; she quickly hid her surprise and stared up at him evenly. The jounin studied the strong yet subtle, delicate lines of the kunoichi's face.

_'So fragile...' _

"You might die." He said it without preamble, blunt and to the point. Staring into his visible eye, Sakura wondered at the resignation that she saw in the darkly tinted eye. "It might seem like a simple mission, but…" Kakashi's voice trailed off. "I don't know if you three-"

"Kakashi-sensei." Sakura interrupted firmly. The man closed his mouth, stared down at her with almost no trace of characteristic vagueness in his gaze at all. "We can do it." She said simply.

"……"

Tsunade watched the exchange between student and teacher silently. Knowing the determination of the young petal-haired woman, she knew that Sakura would want to help Konoha in whatever way she could. Her restlessness could be sensed, her desire to do more. Tsunade closed her eyes wearily. She just wished that Sakura's introduction to the dangerous world of Shinobi wars could have been later, and assigned to a less dangerous mission.

But if anything, Cell seven was among the most powerful chuunin groups in Konoha, if not _the_ most.

As much as she hated to admit it, she needed them.

She opened her eyes again, saw Kakashi staring contemplatively at the scroll she had placed on the surface of her desk.

"… I won't force you to do this." The sixth told him. He raised his eyes, stared at her levelly.

"When should we leave?"

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..  
..

(**Author's Notes:)**

(1) blond's - this is actually incorrect grammar or something, according to my computer... but blonde's is correct... blond is used for males, blonde for females, so I don't get why this is wrong.. T.T

(2) gurney- you know on medical shows, where people are always being rushed to ER in those moving carts? Those things are called gurneys. There are different types of gurneys, but I won't go into detail.

Thanks to **active-heart **who pointed out Tsunade is the fifth, not the sixth. That's been fixed...

Whew! That was about 10 pages! Sorry it took so long coming out… I was busy, lazy, and also had writer's block throughout this chapter. But I'm actually pleased with the way this chapter turned out… for the most part. I stepped up Kakashi's and Sakura's relationship a tiny bit, without rushing things.

I set up the stones enough in this chapter that Kakashi and Sakura can start getting attracted to each other. I think that those who want the romance will start getting it. Still a couple transition stuff to get out of the way though… sorry.

I was gonna write more this chapter, but the result would have been 12 to 13 pages. Too long! XD

* * *

**Mithua: **Thanks! You've been reviewing every chapter! (Along with others!) Chapter eight, no, seven? (Stupid prologue… messing up the numbers. I'm just going to refer chapters by title, ok?) _Lost Memories_ was pretty important. Don't know how many people are catching the clues I've been giving out though… 

**December Jewel: **I originally aimed for Kakashi and Sakura to remember their pasts, but I've altered it a bit. They won't remember all of it, just enough of it- oops. Said too much.. ;P

**PRoyalAngel: **Yay! New Reviewer! (Or have you reviewed before? . Sorry. I have bad memory.) Thanks for liking my writing!

**MP: **are you_ MP1_ or _me…_? Sorry… I have really bad memory. You guys might have picked up on that by now…

As to why Kakashi left Konoha for x years (What did I say in the story? Aah! Curse you, memory! XP) and why Sakura doesn't remember him, that'll come up in the upcoming chapters. You'll have to be patient though! It might take a while for them to know why they can't remember! This might turn into a 30 chapter story!

The prologue.. yes, I might delete that. I checked the hit list, and people just go into the prologue, and then don't bother to read the rest of the chapters:( I know my writing is boring at first, (from what I can gather), but still… ah well, it's my own fault… T.T …. And not a style I can change quickly… TT.TT

**Kakashidiot: **Hmm… it's not in line with the canon, eh? I guess that's good! I thought a lot of the Kakashi Sakura stories had a kinda repetitious theme, so I tried to be really different. I don't know though… we'll have to see at the end! You said it was well-written for the most part… I appreciate that you like the story, but to help me, can you tell me what aspects I can improve on? (People tell me they love the story… which makes me ecstatically happy, but I have no idea what to improve, all I can trust is my own intuition. T.T)

**Optionxx1: **Yes, I'm getting impatient too… T.T

**Jemiul: **Thanks for being so exact on what you liked! It helps a lot!

**Tears Of Hell 1428: **what are teorical moments? T.T Sorry…

The hospital room… which chapter is that… oh! You mean after the whole fight thingie with kakashi in _Lost Memories … _Yeah! The focus has changed a lot from her teammates to Kakashi, which shows exactly how troubled she is by the jounin!

Yes, Ino and Sakura are friends. I didn't go too in depth in it. Characters outside team 7 won't really have a humongous impact on this story.

Oh… so that's what Segoi Desu means… eheheh… thanks! CooL! Japanese lesson today! XD

**Konoha Ninja Sasuke's Lover: **XD I read your review and I was so tickled that you skipped your tutoring thing to continue reading my story! Thanks! That was a huge compliment! (I've procrastinated because of fanfic reading too.. you're not alone there…) On the other hand, my story can wait for you, because it's engraved into the oh so trusty world of the internet, whereas physical time waits for no one… Use your time wisely! (I know from personal experience… T.T)

You just experienced the righteous bleumoon… kekeke… now, the real me: Muahahahaha! They can't escape! My story is irresistible! PUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

**_Nocterayne: _**Nocterayne, oh Nocterayne, where art thou Nocterayne? T.T Surely you haven't abandoned me… TToTT

Although you haven't reviewed the past chapters, your encouraging reviews still drive me! (along with everybody else's of course…)

I look forward to your return! And more reviews! Adieu for now!


	11. Melting Snow

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter ten**

_**Melting snow**_

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..  
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_"Too late…"_

_The dimmed copper hair of the aging man hung in defeated strands around his face. Tomeo (1) Haruno touched a shaking hand to the cold, impersonal stone guarding the bodies of the dead. His fingers, upon touching the rough surface of hewn granite, latched onto the engraved surface almost desperately._

_This particular stone had once held forty-eight names._

_"Damn it…"_

_It now held forty-nine._

_"It shouldn't have come to this…" Haruno whispered in anguish. "You should never have allowed things to escalate this high… you fool…"_

_All it had taken was one mistake… one mistake in the past to potentially ruin the future… Tomeo's finger ran over the name Shiro Hatake, a name that Haruno had known since the days of his adolescence. He was considerably older now, older and weary― weary of the ninja way._

_"Aa… Hatake… my friend, Shiro…" Tomeo sighed, his green eyes dark with sorrow and pain. "What now of the tangled future you left behind?" A drop of rain fell from the dull skies above, staining the dark mottled grey of the granite stone. "What of bleeding Konoha, which you left behind wrought with more confusion and enmity?" _

_Growing sounds of light raindrops hitting the earth reached the man's ears, as did the sudden break of thunder from the weighted skies. In a matter of seconds, the light tempo of falling rain had increased to a steady incessant roar. _

_Under the private shelter of misty gray curtains and the sound of tumultuous rain, Haruno's hand, now streaked with transparent rivulets of water, tightened on the cold, damp stone._

_"What now of your son?"_

_..  
.. _

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_..  
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It was the second night of their mission.

They had been moving continuously throughout the whole day, keeping to the cover of the forest. They had been lucky thus far; only two minor incidents had hampered their progress. A trivial scuffle had ensued between Naruto and another loudmouthed chuunin from the village of Sand (over a misplaced pack of ramen, no less), also on a mission with his team. Luckily, Kakashi and Sasuke had intervened before the fight evolved into something more serious. (As it was, Sakura had had to spend a couple minutes tending to the sand chuunin's wounds. Naruto received a very loud scolding after the two groups had separated.)

The second time, the group had been forced to travel around an unexpected camp of potentially dangerous shinobi from the village of mist. In doing so, they had lost about three hours, but gained ground once they were out of the detection range of the mist shinobi.

Other than that, they had been making good time, traveling an average of twenty three miles a day. Now, it was nighttime, and the group had settled down to catch what rest they could. Tired as she was, Sakura had volunteered to take the first watch in order to avoid the inevitable argument between Sasuke and Naruto over who was better. ("I should take first watch! I have more chakra to expend than you!"…… "So? Doesn't make you less of an idiot."…… "What! You bastard!")

Within minutes of setting up camp and gathering wood for the fire, Naruto dropped onto his sleeping bag, and was dead to the world in a matter of mere seconds. Sasuke followed soon after, though he slept much less obviously. Kakashi and Sakura were the only ones who weren't asleep, but then again, Kakashi never appeared to sleep deeply during missions.

The petal-haired girl watched him.

…

The light reflecting off his one visible eye reminded her of a wolf.

Dark, unfathomable, closely resembling the intense scrutiny of a bestial gaze; His pale eyebrow, lowered, gave a slightly hooded look to his darkly-tinted eye—an effect only heightened by the shifting flames in the center of the loose circle. Even his silver hair, luminous in their dark surroundings, was not dissimilar to the amorphous fur of the nocturnal canine. Her eyes traveled over the planes of his visage, trying to define actual facial structures beneath the network of shadows on his mask.

"Am I that interesting?"

Startled green eyes jerked back to the onyx eye regarding her with something approaching humor. Sensing his slight amusement, the petal-haired girl relaxed, allowing a small smile to grace her lips.

"Well, just a bit." She said, her green eyes seeming to dance in the flames of the campfire between them. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" He leaned forward, away from the log he was using as a backrest. The sounds of intermittent snores coming from the oblivious blond sleeping away the rigors of the day sounded loudly in the night atmosphere. "How so?"

The kunoichi stared at him, torn between amusement and mild exasperation. Abruptly, she frowned at him.

"You know, I'm perfectly capable of handling the first night watch by myself." She said, her emerald eyes studying him.

Kakashi blinked slowly, staring up at her.

"Changing the subject, hm?"

"You didn't have to stay up." Sakura said, ignoring his last words.

"My brain felt like staying awake." He gave a half-shrug. "Who am I to argue?" Kakashi gave an unseen half-smile. "We are all at the mercy of the enigma we call our mind."

Sakura eyed him thoughtfully.

"I liked that." She commented. The jounin blinked, a little taken aback.

"Aa… you did?" He wondered for a moment what she was referring to before recalling his last words. Sakura's eyes shifted to her sleeping teammates.

"It's one of the sad truths of our world…" She said quietly, watching the outline of the dark-haired boy's back. "…Still… I wonder if it's better to follow your mind or your heart…" An odd expression entered the ex-anbu's eye.

Mutual silence fell, broken only by the merry crackling of the warm fire.

…

After long moments, Kakashi broke the stillness.

"Let's play 20 questions." He suggested, his voice carrying softly in the nocturnal silence. Sakura blinked, her gaze moving to him. "You know, since we're both up… might as well do something, don't you agree?" He smiled beneath his mask at her disgruntled expression. "Why don't I go first?" Kakashi crossed his arms, lounging comfortably against the log behind him. The petal-haired girl lifted a brow. "Let me see…" He mused.

"Knowing your habits, you're going to ask something perverted," Sakura said with a slight scowl. "Therefore, I refuse to answer--"

"What do you spend most of your time doing?" Kakashi interrupted amiably.

"What?"

"That was my question."

Sakura regarded him with a slightly suspicious air, certain that there was more to this than a simple game. On the other hand… this was her chance to discover more about her mysterious teacher.

…

The feeling had never faded. The faint impression that she had been familiar with the ex-anbu-turned-instructor in the past had never completely left her. And that kept her wondering, pushed her into studying the man's face intently at odd intervals, hoping that the vague mists shrouding his presence in her past would fade… if he had even been there in the first place…

…

She decided to play along. After all, she really didn't have anything else to do. Naruto grunted in his sleep, turned over onto his side, his back now facing the fire. His heavy snores soon filled the forest clearing once again.

"I guess…" She smiled. "My answer would be… breathing." The silver-haired jounin only blinked at her, not seeming particularly put-out by her answer. "My turn…" She said aloud. She hesitated a couple seconds, wondering what to ask him before finally settling on something easy. "Favorite pastime…"

"I beg your pardon, that's not a question." He said easily, his single visible eye watching her with amusement. Sakura glared at him. "Hm…" Kakashi thought for a moment. "Ok, who do you like more, Sasuke or Naruto?" He said casually. The petal-haired girl paused. This one required more deliberation. In the past, she would have named the Uchiha without a second thought. Now, however…

"They even out." She answered finally. Kakashi regarded her with an air almost akin to interest. "Naruto has his good points, and Sasuke has his." She said honestly. "I don't play favorites… anymore."

"Fair enough." The silver-haired man shrugged. "I believe it's your turn."

"Why did your parents name you… Field Scarecrow?" She asked, a slight smirk on her face. Kakashi gave a slight snort under his breath.

"I suppose they were trying to be funny." He said languidly. "I got over the stupidity of my parent's choice of name a long time ago…"

"Really…"

"Mm hm." Kakashi regarded her with a casually pleasant air. "So tell me, am I a better teacher than Iruka?" Kakashi inquired. It was so much easier to keep a straight face, knowing that another person couldn't see your expression anyways. Sakura tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Well, of course you are… not." She smirked. "I mean, Iruka-sensei is kind-hearted, generous, pretty good-looking…" She laughed outright when Kakashi waved his hand in the air.

"Never mind I asked."

"Well… you know more techniques than he does, anyways." She conceded.

"Aa… I'm glad that I at least outrank him in one category." He said dryly. The silver-haired man straightened, and reached for the pile of wood near him. Sakura watched as he tossed a couple pieces onto the fire, causing a shower of sparks to rain on the ground. A brief silence descended as the jounin settled himself back into his original position.

"Who's your favorite Hokage?" Sakura asked. She watched the jounin's eye shift over to the blond boy sleeping quite comfortably under his light blanket.

"Yondaime… The fourth Hokage…" Kakashi answered quietly. His hand rose, slowly shifted his hitai-ate, adjusting it over his eye. Watching, Sakura saw the firelight striking his Sharingan eye. For a split second, his gaze seemed feral, his countenance wild and untamed. Then, the familiar hitai-ate dropped back down over his eye, and the dark image was broken. The petal-haired kunoichi blinked, unsure of what she had just seen. "So…" The ex-anbu drawled. "I guess it's my turn to ask you…"

* * *

**_14 questions and several inane discussions later…_ **

* * *

They had been going for about half an hour now. It was, as Kakashi had said, an effective way of keeping one amused while keeping the night watch. The kunoichi was glad that the silver-haired man had recovered his typical, rather blasé temperament. Before team seven had been given their current "delivery" mission, he had seemed slightly more introverted than usual, becoming laconic to the point that he had actually succeeded in irritating the stoic, dark-haired Uchiha. 

She wondered just how far Naruto's tactless comments had penetrated.

In any case, the jounin was back to his normal, and sometimes infuriatingly apathetic, self.

"Do you like your hair color?"

Sakura slowly broke out a reluctant smile.

"You're one to talk…" She murmured. Her pale hand came up, and fingered one of her cherry-blossom tinted locks. Kakashi's eye followed the soft motions of her hand running through her hair, a faint crease visible in-between his eyebrows. "I like the color, I suppose…" she admitted reluctantly. "But…" Her eyes, dark emerald in the night, studied the strands of hair held between her fingers. "… I don't like what it represents…" The girl kept her eyes lowered. "Sakura blossoms burst into the prime of their lives with stunning beauty, and then… they die." She said quietly, letting her hand drop back to rest on her knees.

Kakashi silently watched her.

Yes, it was all too true… At the height of pristine beauty, the Sakura flowers fell, spiraling down in a haze of scattered splendor. The kunoichi's next question brought him sharply back from his musings.

"How did you get your Sharingan eye?"

From the cover of darkness hiding his face from view, Sasuke's eyes opened.

For several moments, there was a tense silence.

"I got it from an Uchiha." Kakashi finally answered. "… They couldn't use it anymore…" He fell silent, leaving Sakura feeling mystified at his enigmatic words. She leaned forward, about to question his words, when the silver-haired man interrupted her.

"And now, my question…" His voice was soft, his gaze focusing in on her with growing intensity. For a moment, neither person moved, tense silence settling heavily on their shoulders. This was the question he had been meaning to ask her from the start. He hesitated, not sure whether or not to bring it up. She drew back, breaking eye contact with the jounin, and pretended to occupy herself with readjusting the blanket around her body.

The jounin leaned forward, allowing the light of the fire to fall fully upon his masked face. Despite herself, Sakura shrank back, unable to meet his steady gaze. "…What were you to me…?" He asked softly.

…

Sakura's hands stilled on her blanket. _'His choice of words…'_ She raised wide, troubled green eyes, and hesitantly met Kakashi's gaze. _'He knows…'_

"What… was I to you…?" She whispered.

Seeing her reaction, Kakashi made a split second decision. His hand rose swiftly, reached to uncover his Sharingan eye. Sakura tensed, her own hands rising to perform a shield around her mind if necessary. Having been on the same team with Uchiha Sasuke for over four years, she knew not to underestimate the capabilities of the Sharingan.

"Saaaaaakura-chaaan!"

The two froze, and turned to look at the blond chuunin who was sleepily throwing aside his blanket. "Is it my turn to take the night watch yet?" Naruto asked groggily. Kakashi's hand slowly dropped back down.

"Naruto…" Sakura couldn't disguise the small degree of relief she felt at the blond's timely interruption. She quickly dropped her hands. "Yeah… it's your turn now…" Naruto nodded, and yawned widely.

"Get some sleep, ok, Sakura-chan?"

The petal-haired kunoichi chanced a careful glance at the silent jounin, and encountered his relentless stare. She held his eyes for a moment before turning her back to him, and lying down to sleep. Seeing that he would get nothing out of her, Kakashi gave way to a soft sigh, and tugged down at his hitai-ate.

Hearing nothing more but silence, the Uchiha's eyes closed once again.

That night, three separate people all contemplated the same question…

..  
..

'"_What were you to me…?"_'

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Trees flashed by in an endless monotony, silent sentinels standing guard in the changing landscape. Four figures swiftly made their way from tree branch to tree branch, propelling themselves forward with powerful jumps. They moved soundlessly, moving with the practiced efficiency that had become second nature.

They were nearing the Earth country.

The hushed atmosphere of the foreign country felt unnatural, pressing down on the group. Here, winter had already passed, and verdant greenery was sprouting all over the forest floor far beneath the quartet. Yet, there was an eerie quality about the soundless forest. Stale wind rushed past the Konoha shinobi, whispering hollowly by their ears.

A gloved hand rose sharply in the air, signaling an abrupt stop as the silver-haired jounin rebounded off a tree trunk and landed smoothly back onto a conveniently wide branch. Naruto let out a soft curse as he checked his steps, grabbing the trunk of the nearest tree to stop himself. Sasuke and Sakura, who had been bringing up the rear, halted in similar fashions, before looking questioningly at the ex-anbu.

Kakashi lowered his hand, and raised his hitai-ate, revealing his Sharingan eye. His gaze moved automatically to the petal-haired kunoichi, who had avoided looking directly at him since last night. She was looking at everything around her with fake concentration—looking at everything but him. The jounin suppressed a sigh. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he let out an annoyed hiss, his own Sharingan activating. Naruto glanced between the two Sharingan users, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"What the hell are we stopping for?" Naruto asked, taking care to keep his tone low. Kakashi shook his head at the blond, motioning for him to keep quiet.

"By now, we should have encountered at least one or two Konoha nins." The ex-anbu said, his eyes roving the forestry around them. "But we haven't."

"Is that unusual?" Naruto asked, frowning. Kakashi nodded.

"So here's the plan. We're splitting up--"

"Is that wise?" Sakura interrupted sharply, finally looking at the jounin. "If we encounter enemies, we're going to need all the manpower we have."

The jounin's eyes rested on her for a moment. Realizing that she had broken her one-sided silent treatment of the jounin, Sakura looked down, a delicate pink staining her cheeks.

"- We'll split up into two groups." Kakashi continued. Sasuke and Naruto exchanged glances, sure they were going to be on the same team. "The first group will be heading for our checkpoint, with the information scroll." Kakashi reached into his pocket, and pulled out four headpieces, distributing them to the three chuunin. "The other group will spread out, act as guards." Kakashi paused, taking time to adjust the headpiece so that the earpiece fit comfortably, and the mouthpiece was positioned over his mouth.

"Sasuke, Sakura, go straight ahead with the scroll." The silver-haired jounin instructed. The petal-haired girl glanced at the Uchiha, who gave a curt nod. "Do not separate, if at all possible, and make sure you stay within two miles of Naruto or me." Both chuunin nodded, headpieces in place. "Once you've delivered the scrolls, we'll meet back here." Kakashi grabbed a kunai, and quickly slashed the tree trunk, creating a shallow gash in the rough bark. "If we're not here within ten minutes of your arrival here, go _straight_ back to Konoha, understood?"

The jounin watched Sasuke and Sakura leave with an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He was sure that they could handle whatever situation they ran into, but that didn't stop him from worrying. Suppressing another sigh, Kakashi motioned for Naruto to follow him.

..  
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..  
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"What's with you and Kakashi?"

Sakura glanced at the dark-haired Uchiha, startled at his question. Sasuke kept his eyes ahead, Sharingan still in active mode. The two moved easily through the trees, on the alert for anything out of the ordinary. Even though they weren't yet at the Earth Country borders, mistakes could be deadly in the world of Shinobi.

"I don't know what you mean." The petal-haired girl replied after a long moment of silence. Sasuke allowed a small smirk to show on his face.

"All right, then." He glanced at the kunoichi out of the corner of his eyes. "I won't bother you about it… yet…"

"……"

Sakura bit her lip.

…

Kakashi's last question the night before had unnerved her. Before, she had thought that her supposed "connection" with the jounin had been purely imagination. His words yesterday said otherwise. It wasn't obvious what he had meant by his question, but he had seemed to question her link to his past.

And that was what puzzled her.

Her feelings towards Kakashi stemmed from the assumption that she had met him once or twice on the streets before. Her hypothesis conveniently explained the feelings of latent recognition regarding the jounin. But his words had implied something… deeper. He had implied a connection between them.

Had they really known each other in the past?

And if so… why?

Why couldn't she remember him?

…

Suddenly aware of Sasuke's eye on her, the kunoichi shook her head violently.

No… now was not the time for such thoughts. She'd have time to think once she returned home. For now, the mission came first. Sakura shifted the backpack containing the scroll into a more comfortable position.

As if to remind her that the mission was of utmost importance, faint static electricity sounded in her earphone, before a voice spoke through the electronic device.

"Sasuke? Sakura?" Kakashi's voice came through, sounding rather muffled. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes." Both replied jointly.

Sasuke glanced again at the female running beside him.

"We're about one and a half miles from the checkpoint." He said quietly into his mouthpiece. Abruptly, Naruto's voice sounded.

"What the-!" Naruto half-yelled. Sakura and Sasuke exchanged alarmed glances, but kept moving forward, albeit rather reluctantly. Muffled noises and disjointed thuds sounded, including a loud curse. "No, wait! I'm from Konoha! Stop!" Naruto's voice shouted. Sasuke's mouth tightened, as his speed increased almost imperceptibly. Sakura followed him wordlessly, brows drawing together in worry.

"Naruto! What's wrong?" Kakashi's voice joined the confusion of noises sounding from the headphones.

"Hold on!" Naruto answered back, a little distractedly. More muffled voices sounded through the headphones. After about a minute, Naruto's voice sounded clearly through the electronic device. "Kakashi-sensei! I've found someone!" Sasuke, listening in on the conversation, narrowed his eyes.

"What?" Kakashi's voice sounded odd.

"Yeah… A Konoha nin!" Naruto's voice said enthusiastically into Sasuke and Sakura's ears. The two relaxed visibly, though their paces didn't slow. "Looks like he's a bit hurt though…" Here, a loud "ouch" could be heard, immediately followed by several apologetic sounds from Naruto. "I'm heading back for the meeting spot, Kakashi-sensei! I'll keep guard from there!"

Sasuke and Sakura finally spotted what appeared to be a frayed red flag, with the leaf symbol embossed in gold on the fabric. They slowed to a more cautious pace, passing the flag nailed to the tree trunk with only a second glance.

The moment they passed the flag, a slight tingling sensation could be felt throughout their bodies. Sakura instantly recognized the minute feeling, and clapped her hands together into a seal position. Sasuke followed suit, both calling out, "Kai." Immediately, the air in front of the two chuunin shimmered, before clearing again. Sakura frowned. '_That's strange…_' She glanced at Sasuke, who didn't seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. '_If this is really the intelligence squad stationed here, the defenses around this place should be much stronger… Yet… that genjutsu was so easy to dispel… _'

Kakashi's voice finally sounded, replying to Naruto.

"If you're sure he's of Konoha, then take him there. Be on your guard, though."

"Roger that!" Naruto's voice replied. Then, he exclaimed loudly. "Hey…! Hey! Don't fall unconscious on me! Heeeey! … Aw man…"

Sakura viewed a clearing ahead with relief, sensing that their destination was near. Ahead of her, Sasuke leapt onto the final branch, and halted.

"Sasuke, Sakura… how close are you to the checkpoint?" Kakashi's voice asked, just as Sakura reached the dark-haired Uchiha's side.

…

The two chuunin stared down at the campsite in complete silence.

"… Sasuke? Sakura? Are you there?" Kakashi's voice asked again. This time, Sakura answered, as Sasuke stoically jumped down into the clearing.

"… We… We've arrived." Sakura whispered.

"Ok… deliver the scroll and come back ASAP…" Kakashi's voice instructed. Sakura shook her head, blinking her head rapidly to clear the sudden tears that filled her eyes. "Sakura…? Sakura? Is everything alright?"

"What's wrong?" Naruto's voice demanded. Sakura watched numbly as Sasuke walked into the mass of human bodies lying on the ground. The tents that had served for temporary sleeping quarters had been burned down. Carrion crows pecked at the rotting flesh, eyeing the two newcomers with beady black eyes. The Uchiha turned slowly, and looked at the petal-haired kunoichi, who swallowed hard and joined her teammate in the wreckage.

"Looks like an ambush…" Sasuke said, just loudly enough for her to hear. He stooped, picked something off the ground.

She walked past burnt flesh, exposed bones, pools of dried blood. She walked steadily past scattered human limbs, forcing her eyes to look into the mess of bodies. The only things that moved were the crows, who cawed derisively at the two chuunin. Sakura swallowed a rising lump in her throat.

"Sakura…? Sasuke…?" Kakashi asked again through the headpiece.

This, then, was the reason that the defenses surrounding the intelligence station had been so weak. There had been nobody left to uphold the defense… Everybody was dead. "Sakura-chan? What's happening?" Naruto demanded loudly.

"Naruto… Shut up, please…" Sakura said quietly, finally reaching the waiting Uchiha. He silently held out a hitai-ate. Sakura stared at it. '_The earth country… _'

Sasuke touched her briefly on the shoulder, before turning away. Sakura understood, numbly, that this was his way of offering her comfort, as well as gaining some from her. The hitai-ate disappeared into one of the Uchiha's pockets. Sasuke spoke into the mouthpiece, his voice coming out rather harsh.

"Kakashi… we're coming back." Sasuke hesitated. "There's no need to deliver the scroll anymore." On the other end, he heard Kakashi make a questioning noise. Sasuke felt the petal-haired kunoichi leave his side, and he turned to see her moving jerkily towards the dead bodies. "Sakura! Don't bother!" The Uchiha said sharply, going to her side as she knelt down next to a man disfigured by an open wound on his forehead.

"There must be somebody alive…" Sakura said, reaching for the man with trembling fingers. "If there is-- "

"No, there's not." Sasuke cut her off mercilessly. "Can't you feel it? There's not a hint of chakra left in any of these… people." The kunoichi's eyes lowered, refusing to meet Sasuke's gaze.

"Sasuke, what's going on?" Kakashi's voice came in. Sasuke grabbed the kunoichi's arm and forced her up. She rose without much resistance, submitting dully to his insistent tugs.

"They're dead." The Uchiha replied shortly. "All of them." There was silence on the other end, soon followed by muttered swearing from Naruto. "We'll be heading back right now."

"…… all right. You have ten minutes." Kakashi replied after a long moment.

Sasuke grimly dragged the petal-haired girl by the wrist back the way they'd come. '_The sooner we're gone from here, the better…_' Behind him, Sakura stumbled on an outstretched leg, lying broken on the ground. He caught her wordlessly, propped her back up, and started off again. Sakura dug in her heels, her green eyes staring at him.

"Sasuke-kun, we can't just leave them… like this…" She said, her voice halting. "These people deserve better than to be desecrated by crows and forest animals." The Uchiha turned, stared at her with unreadable eyes.

"You are aware of how close we are to the Earth country's borders, correct?" He asked her in a level tone. Despite his neutral face and voice, Sakura flinched, sliding her wrist from the dark-haired boy's grip. The Uchiha could feel a headache growing, most likely from the stench of the mass of dead bodies near the two. He scowled, one hand rising to rub at his eyes, still tinted blood-red.

Sasuke jerked his head back at the trees.

"Go stand back there… you'll get in the way." He said curtly. "Actually… you go on back first. I'll catch up." Sakura stared at him wordlessly, before swiftly leaving the clearing.

…

The Uchiha watched the petal-haired kunoichi as she disappeared from view. There was sense in what she had said. Leaving out the bodies might attract attention from the other ninja countries if they came across this. He couldn't burn the bodies… the smoke would be too obvious. And there was still the matter of the Anbu. They would have to come and examine the bodies.

Sasuke sighed, flexing his hands as he walked towards the edge of the clearing. Upon reaching the first line of trees, he turned and faced the remains of the former intelligence station.

The Uchiha rapidly performed a set of seals, and drew in a deep breath.

(**Doton: Doryuuheki **(1))

His breath exhaled as a huge onslaught of mud from his mouth, which he manipulated into covering the whole clearing with his chakra. He performed the jutsu twice more before he was satisfied that the mud had covered everything. When it hardened, it would just look like a normal hill of hard earth. No normal person passing by here would even be able to guess that a mass graveyard was concealed under the smooth mounds of earth.

…

Yes. They'd died without anybody knowing… and they would remain that way.

..  
..

What a pitiful ending.

…

Yet, this was the fate that awaited many hapless ninjas.

…

For all Sasuke knew, he himself might be included in those numbers in the future.

…

Dying alone.

…

Pathetically.

…

Hopelessly…

…

Wishing for someone to be near him.

…Wanting to live just a little bit longer… knowing it was impossible.

..  
..

After several silent moments, the dark-haired chuunin turned and left the clearing, leaving no trace of his presence.

..  
..

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(Author's Notes:) Ack! I'm soooooo sorry! I know I haven't updated in a while.. but there's a valid excuse, I swear! I've been busy with summer homework from school (imagine, summer preparation homework for the school year! How …… argh!) And I've been having major writer's block. I couldn't seem to find any motivation or time…

But hey! I did it! I updated! That's what counts:D

THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO REVIEWED, AND ALL THOSE WHO ARE CONSISTENT REVIEWERS! (Yay Mithua! You've reviewed all my chapters, starting from chp. 2! I'm so touched:D)

**OK… Urgent news! **

**I need a new beta! It's official… my old beta and I parted ways long ago! I've gotten along fine without a beta for this story, but I've come to a realization… even I can make mistakes:D … That being said, if you're interested in beta-ing for this story, please visit my profile page (if you're registered, then my email should show on there.) Read the stuff regarding Beta-ing on my profile page, then proceed to email me directly, or leave your email via review button! **

**Thanks for your time :) **

REVIEWS WOULD BE APPRECIATED... I NEED TO KNOW IF PEOPLE ACTUALLY STILL LIKE THIS FIC... T.T ... :D


	12. soft transitions

Author's note: I'm soooooooooooooo sooooooooooooo soooooooooooo extremely sorry about the lateness of this chapter. T.T . I know… it's been over a month since I last posted anything, but I've been swamped by schoolwork… :D

This chapter took a lot out of me. Xx… I found it somewhat irritating to write, but I pushed myself into finishing. I guess it's an ok transitory chapter… because this is all it's meant to be.

I have no idea when the next chapter will be, but it should be soon, since it's an interlude that's coming up next.

Enjoy the blood, sweat, and tears that went into this chapter. XD

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ..

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter eleven**

_**Soft transitions**_

…………………………………………………………………………………………

..  
..

_"Kakashi-kun… this is for your own good."_

_The silver-haired adolescent barely suppressed an ironic smile. Of course he would be told that… _

_When he had had to leave Konoha, those words had been his only consolation for the abrupt change his life had been forced to take; Sandaime had told him that he would be leaving Konohagakure, and the Hokage's reason had been, "This is for your own good."_

_When Kakashi had pleaded with his father, Shiro, to allow him to come on the mission, Shiro had refused. As he had left the house, his last words had been "Kakashi-kun… this is for your own good…" That had been the last time he saw his father alive. _

_The former anbu captain allowed a smile to creep onto his unmasked face, ignoring the look Tomeo Haruno was giving him. _

_"Kakashi-kun, please, be reasonable." Tomeo said, half-pleading. "Don't you see how much danger you place us in?…" Kakashi looked piercingly at the copper-haired man, his eyes flickering, his smile still pasted on his face, superficial and painful. _

_"So even you would abandon me?" the Silver-haired teenager questioned, his smile fading into a weary look. Without his mask on, he looked extraordinarily vulnerable, despite the carefully arranged blank face. Tomeo looked away, agonizingly aware of how selfish his request was. He was ashamed-- ashamed to be here, asking his best friend's son this. _

_But it couldn't be helped._

_The night threatened to overtake all._

_"… _He… _still wants you." Tomeo swallowed, aware that his words betrayed his fear. "If any connection was to be found leading to you…" He didn't bother finishing the sentence. Both knew too well what would happen if any hint of Kakashi was left in the village he had been forced to leave. "Please… for the protection of Konoha… and… " Tomeo's voice grew distinctly smaller. "… my daughter…" _

_Kakashi bowed his head, hiding his face from view._

…

" '_this is for your own good…'"_

…

_An excuse … _

_That's all those words meant… _

_An excuse to save themselves…_

_But Kakashi knew his bitter thoughts to be false. Konoha had his allegiance, no matter how cruelly it treated him. And the Haruno family… they were the only living reminders he had left of his father._

_He couldn't allow himself to be the cause of death of all that he held dearest._

_Not after what he had suffered._

…

_When Kakashi spoke, it was with his face still lowered, and a slight tremble in the voice._

_"Very well… You have my permission." _

…_  
…_

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…  
…

An angry thud sounded in the room as the blonde woman slammed her tea cup down on the polished wooden desk. All those gathered in the spacious room looked automatically at the surface of the desk, which was marked with old scars and indentations. Green tea sloshed over the blunt edges of the earthen-toned cup, settling into an irregular pool of liquid.

…

The Hokage ignored the greenish tinge now staining several of the officious looking documents lying on her desk.

"What!" She hissed, her brown eyes narrowing. Her sharp gaze moved from Kakashi to the dark-haired Uchiha as he shifted imperceptibly. Looking at him, his stoic face revealed as much as Hatake's face mask did. Nevertheless, she tried the chuunin, hoping he would say more than the two words the lackluster silver-haired man had uttered. "What did he mean, 'Mission failure…?'"

"They're dead," Sasuke explained shortly. Tsunade's brain dimly registered that the Uchiha had also spoken only two words.

"… They're… dead…" she repeated dumbly. The dark-haired chuunin nodded, his face as implacable as stone. "All… of them…?" she asked, her hands reaching for the tea cup, only to find the liquid had gone cold.

…

From the back of the room, Naruto let out a soft snarl of frustration. Tsunade settled for rubbing wearily at her temples.

"Ok… somebody… explain. Now," she demanded. "And try to speak actual sentences," she added as an afterthought.

Brief silence settled into the room. Seeing as how nobody was taking the initiative, the blond chuunin started speaking.

"Well… we were heading towards Earth country," he started lamely. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"… And we split up into two groups, once we were near Earth…" He continued. "Me and Kakashi-sensei did guard duty, and Sasuke-teme…" Seeing Tsunade's raised eyebrow, he hastily changed his words. "I mean, _Sasuke_ and Sakura-chan went ahead to the intelligence station to deliver the scroll while Kakashi-sensei and I split up to cover more ground…" Naruto explained.

"Then… I found that guy, back there." Here, the blond boy jerked his head towards the man sitting quietly beside him. Tsunade glanced at him. "And Sasuke and Sakura-chan…" His voice trailed off uncertainly.

Seeing that Naruto wasn't sure how to continue, Sasuke took over abruptly.

"Sakura and I were to deliver the scroll, and meet back at a certain point with the others within 10 minutes." Sasuke said curtly. "But when we reached the station, there were only corpses." Sasuke paused, his face contorting slightly. "The entire camp was decimated… with no survivors."

Naruto looked at the Konoha ninja next to him glumly.

"So, we just came back…" Sasuke ended, his face unreadable.

…

Tsunade observed the pale face in front of her.

"Did it look like an ambush…?" She asked quietly. Sasuke hesitated, glanced at the pink-haired girl standing slightly behind him, but Sakura dropped her eyes, and refused to meet the Uchiha's gaze. He studied her for a moment before turning back to the Hokage to answer. But it was the kunoichi's voice that overrode Sasuke's, despite the softness of her pitch.

"We have every reason to think that it was, Hokage-sama." Sakura said, in muted tones, her eyes still cast to the floor.

Kakashi's head turned slightly, as his uncovered eye regarded Sakura with slight surprise. During the return trip back home, she hadn't uttered a single word about what she and Sasuke had found at the intelligence clearing. Then again, Sasuke had been equally reticent, only answering with grunts and the occasional three or four word sentences.

Tsunade looked at her apprentice with furrowed brows.

…

…

The chances of the Hidden Village of Rock crossing the borders and happening to encounter the intelligence station had always been rather high. But the danger had been outweighed by the necessity of the position. But this information would cause more fuel to be added to the growing fire…

… It was merely a matter of predicting when the small fire would turn into a roaring blaze of flames and sparks.

…

Tsunade came back to herself with a start when she realized Sakura was speaking again.

"— was most likely an ambush by the shinobi of Rock, judging from the wounds I found on the corpses of the Konoha nins," the kunoichi said softly. Tsunade's eyebrow rose slightly. Yes, she had known the girl was a good medic nin, but the subdued attitude had led Tsunade to believe that Sakura hadn't handled the sight of an entire camp of corpses very well. She was glad that the pink-haired chuunin had mastered herself enough to perform the necessary duties.

"What kinds of wounds were they?" Tsunade prompted.

Sasuke shifted again, looked sideways at Sakura, and caught Kakashi's gaze instead. The Uchiha half-scowled and turned away. Kakashi's eyebrow rose a fractional inch.

"When I studied one… corpse," Sakura paused, her eyes moving to look at her feet, "that body contained grains of a certain type of rock found only in the Earth country." Sasuke's eyes moved towards the pink-haired kunoichi again. "The wounds of some shinobi were crusted with the remains of acidic mud…" Sakura's voice trailed away, and she finally lifted her gaze to stare directly at the Hokage.

"…Acidic mud…" Tsunade repeated, her brows lowering. "Then, you are right. It was most definitely the Shinobi of Rock."

"How can you be so sure?" Naruto asked, his eyes scrunched up in confusion. Kakashi turned slightly.

"Only certain ninjas from the Hidden Village of Rock have the ability to perform a jutsu that combines acid and mud," he answered passively. "Just like the Hidden Village of Leaf has the Sharingan or Byakugan, the Hidden Village of Rock has a clan that specializes in acid." Naruto nodded in understanding.

…

The Godaime wearily clasped her hands together and stared at the flawless skin of her hands. The momentary peace between the major ninja countries was weakening… The Earth Country had made that clear by their unwarranted attack on Konoha's intelligence station.

The Hidden Village of Snow was already at war with Konoha, but the war hadn't taxed Konohagakure too much… until recently, that is…

Clearly, Earth and Snow were now allies, just as Sand and Leaf were. The Hidden Village of Sand and Leaf had combined to keep their borders from being eaten by the Snow country, but none of the other countries had shown the inclination to join the daring Snow Country.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. But now the news of the attack by the Hidden Village of Rock… the rumors of a growing resentment towards the powerful Sand-Leaf- Wave alliance… Then there was the Sound, which already harbored strong dislike towards Konohagakure (courtesy of that bastard Orochimaru), and to top it all off, other countries were starting to rise up…

How wonderful.

The godaime wanted to laugh at the sheer reality of it all.

…

But what was causing the sudden aggression towards the Fire Country?

…

"We'll have to wait for the results of the Analytic test being conducted by the Anbu and the Laboratory, but if what your group says is true…" The blonde woman's hands tightened, and her brown eyes lifted to face the people standing before her desk. "… We will eventually have to take measures to cut off the Snow and Earth countries from the other Shinobi countries." She said levelly. "If the other countries join them, then even the Sand-Leaf-Wave alliance might be overthrown… and our countries will go down with it." Her eyes hardened. "We can't allow that to happen… "

"……!"

Naruto bolted up from his chair, his blue eyes widening.

"You!" He gasped. "Are you saying… " He swallowed. "Outright war between all the other shinobi countries?"

"Don't speak of such things lightly, Naruto." Kakashi answered, his face turned towards the window. Sasuke snorted.

"And if you listened, dobe, you'd have known she meant we're trying to _prevent_ war." The dark-haired Uchiha said, staring at Naruto with the slight stirrings of irritation.

…

A tinkling laugh broke the pending silence.

Sakura's green eyes regarded them all with a foreign expression; yet a smile was on her lips.

Kakashi slowly turned to face her, his dark eyes boring past her fake smile. Unperturbed, the pink-haired kunoichi stared straight back at him, her green eyes refusing to let him through into her mind.

For a moment, the two stood, staring at each other, until they both looked away at the same time. Sakura's face turned towards the Uchiha boy instead.

"There's no difference, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said softly. Sasuke's gaze fixed onto the pink-haired girl, watching her motionlessly. "We'd all like to think that this won't turn into another rewrite of history… that there won't be another Great Shinobi War…"

Kakashi's face darkened behind his mask.

"But the signs can't be ignored…" The girl's smile faded off her face, leaving behind a bitter, weary expression. "It's too late to stop the Snow and Earth countries from recruiting more shinobi from other countries, or gathering more allies. If the Earth country had enough confidence to destroy an intelligence station in the Fire Country belonging to us, then they're already more powerful than we realized."

Tsunade only gazed at her apprentice steadily.

…

She spoke the truth. Tsunade dreaded what the future might hold; she mourned for the many lives that would be inevitably lost in a war with the other countries.

And though not all would blame her for the deaths of those they held dear, she would blame herself… And she didn't know if she could bear a burden of that magnitude and weight.

The Hokage smiled wryly to herself. '_This is why I didn't want to be the Hokage…_' She thought, her eyes moving to Naruto. '_Too many damn responsibilities…_'

…

"If… we can't stop the war from coming…" Naruto said quietly, his face serious. "Then, we've got to at least keep the damage to a minimum." His eyes clouded. "Lots of innocent lives have been taken in the past wars. We can't keep doing that… This time, if this second Great War that Sakura-Chan is predicting really _does _happen, I don't think the costs of the war should be as high as they've been." He finished. His blue eyes dropped to the floor.

For once, all eyes gazed at Naruto without a hint of disdain or annoyance. Silence reverberated throughout the room, broken only by the Uchiha's soft grunt.

"Huhn, nice speech… dobe…" Sasuke smirked. Naruto glared. "But… wishful thinking isn't gonna get us anywhere." The dark-haired chuunin turned back to the Hokage. "We need to take action while we have the time."

…

Tsunade considered his words briefly, impressed despite herself. These three were far too mature for their ages… then again, all the youngsters these days were precocious, having lived in fear of war all their lives. The blonde woman's eyes moved to the immobile Sakura. Clear green eyes met brown in a silent agreement. Tsunade stared at her apprentice for a moment longer before heaving her body out of her chair with a loud sigh. Those gathered in the spacious office watched as the Godaime turned to face the open window, showing only her back to them.

It was a long time before she spoke. When she did, it was with heaviness lacing every word.

"I will need to discuss this with the council." Tsunade said quietly. Sasuke and Naruto exchanged glances. "Sakura and Sasuke will have to come back tomorrow for questioning when the Anbu arrive," Tsunade continued, her tone brisk. "I'll send someone out to retrieve you two when we need you."

"Hai." Sasuke and Sakura said in unison. Tsunade didn't turn.

"Very well. You are dismissed."

…

…

……………………………………………………………………………………

…

…

Sakura breathed in deeply once she passed the front doors. The meeting with the Hokage had taken longer than she expected, but now that she was free to roam, little options presented themselves to her. Two strong hands descended on her shoulders, startling the kunoichi.

"Naruto!" She exclaimed. He grinned cheekily at her, his fox whisker markings winking at her.

"Who else?" Naruto replied with a wink. "Ramen, fair lady?" He offered. Sasuke passed the doors and halted, watching the two with amusement. Sakura shook her head. "No… I'm not hungry."

Naruto pouted at her words, so Sakura hastily invented an excuse.

"I think I'm gonna go home and catch some sleep… I'm dead tired…"

The blond kitsune nodded in understanding, his bright hair bouncing. Sakura wondered vaguely how the hyper-active boy could make such a good ninja, when he stood out so brightly. Her own vividly pink locks rose and fell in rhythm to the soft breeze.

She watched as Sasuke and Naruto gave her parting waves, and headed down the street to (where else?) Ichiraku.

…

The pink haired kunoichi cast a longing look towards home and adamantly shook her head after a moment. No… she didn't want to go home… not yet.

She wasn't ready to talk, ready to settle back into her old routine. Even her bed wouldn't be a safe haven from the scene etched into her mind…

Those deep, gaping, sunken eyes staring at her when she closed her eyes… withered flesh and the nauseating, cloying smell of bodies that had been left in the open too long…

…

If she thought too long, those memories inevitably returned to her.

…

…

Pathetic, really.

She was supposed to be a shinobi… and a medic-nin. If she was going to get a little queasy at the sight of a couple dead bodies, what was she going to do when she was actually needed to do an important task?

Yet… those sad vestiges of beings that had once been breathing, talking, alive like her…

… she hadn't been able to rid herself of the memory.

…

She didn't think she'd ever be able to.

…

…

Her parents were well-meaning, but the last thing she wanted was to be badgered with questions. That ruled out her home, her friend's places, and her usual haunts. Sakura sighed and headed towards the forestry visible not too far off.

It would be nice to have some peace and quiet.

…

…

………………………………………………………………………

…

…

Alas, peace and quiet was not to be had.

…

Sakura breathed out a huff of annoyance, not bothering to be polite.

"Kakashi-sensei, why are you following me?" She asked, continuing down the road. In answer, said silver-haired man appeared rather suddenly right beside her, giving a nonchalant wave. Sakura spared him a minimal glance before turning her attention back onto the road. The two walked down the rather empty road in silence.

…

Kakashi glanced sidelong at her.

The kunoichi looked tired, her face was wan, and her clothes weren't in the best of conditions. He smiled to himself.

"How about some training?" The jounin suggested in a lighthearted manner. Expecting a look of disgust or annoyance, he was surprised to see her nod in assent. His eyebrow rose slightly. "Hm… alright then… shall we…?" Kakashi leapt off the ground, and was off in a matter of seconds, followed soon after by Sakura.

…

…

………………………………………………………………………

…

…

"What is this…?"

Tsunade took the proffered object in the dark-haired Sharingan user's hand.

Sasuke dropped his hand, and gave a shrug. He had ditched Naruto at the ramen shop long enough to come back here, having just remembered that he had meant to give the Hokage something.

"I found it… back at the station." He answered shortly. Tsunade's eyebrows rose as she examined the hitai-ate she held in her palm. The Uchiha allowed her to continue her inspection a minute longer before clearing his throat. "Do… you recognize it…?"

"……" Tsunade shook her head, her brows drawing together to form a worried line. "No… I don't." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I've never seen a village with a hitai-ate like this."

…

The two stared at the inconspicuous object.

It was completely blank.

No symbols were engraved in the center. Nothing was there to signify the allegiance it belonged to.

The metal itself was extremely dark… so dark that it resembled nighttime without the moon.

…

Tsunade lifted her eyes to stare steadily at the Uchiha.

"You say you found it at the station," she repeated. "Where… in the station?" She asked in a quiet voice. Sasuke shook his head, his dark onyx eyes impenetrable.

"I didn't find it in the station itself…" he admitted. "When I was heading back towards the meeting point, I saw something glinting on the ground." His brows lowered in concentration. "This was about… one twelfth of a mile east from the intelligence station."

The blonde woman let out a sigh of frustration.

"But where the hell is this thing from?" She muttered, half to herself. Sasuke shrugged. Tsunade looked up. "I have no idea which village has a hitai-ate like this one… but the only thing I can think of…" Her voice trailed off, just as Sasuke's eyes widened in realization.

"A newly formed hidden village…?"

…

…

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…

…

Sakura gave vent to an irritated growl in the back of her throat, glaring at the man before her.

"You agreed to this… don't take it out on me," the silver-haired jounin said absentmindedly.

They had been sparring on and off for at least an hour and a half now, taking occasional breaks then starting again. There had been little idle talk during their training session; it was obvious that Sakura didn't feel like talking, and Kakashi didn't care to push her into explaining herself.

…

After all, there was really no explanation owed to him.

He knew that as well as she did.

…

Neither of the two shinobi mentioned the conversation they had held by the firelight a couple nights ago, preferring to keep concentration on the task at hand. But the tenseness, with which they observed each other revealed new suspicions.

Still, each kept their silence.

…

…

What irritated Sakura was the fact that her jounin instructor had barely lifted his eyes from the pages of that damned book.

…

The kunoichi's eyebrows twitched in anger as he casually turned another page of the infamous orange book written by the legendary pervert Jiraiya.

"You going to start again anytime soon…?"

In answer, Sakura closed her eyes briefly. "Well…?" Kakashi drawled. Sakura nodded curtly, her tired eyes opening once again to focus on the jounin. She stood completely still for a moment, feeling her muscles tense as she prepared to run at him again.

Another page turned.

…

Without warning, the kunoichi disappeared.

…

Kakashi's gaze lifted fractionally.

…

The two shinobi met in a flurry of movement, Sakura appearing from beneath the ground. (**Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu**) The silver-haired jounin deftly blocked the medic-nin's barrage of taijutsu attacks with ease, still holding onto his book with one hand.

Leg met leg, fist was blocked by palm.

Sakura's eyes widened when the jounin's hand closed on her fist.

Kakashi ducked smoothly under and around the Kunoichi's outstretched arm, twisting her arm behind her back. A swift jab to the spine with his elbow caused the kunoichi to gasp aloud with pain, and collapse abruptly into a cloud of dense smoke, which cleared to reveal a log. The ex-anbu sighed and paused in the middle of the clearing to tuck his book into his back pocket. He had irritated the little kunoichi long enough… time to show he didn't underestimate her.

His eyes widened when he saw a trio of Shuriken flying through the air towards him.

The sharp pieces of metal collided with his body, impaling the soft flesh with ease. A second later, the jounin's form changed to that of another wooden log.

…

Watching from behind the cover of a tree, Sakura cursed under her breath, and was startled to hear a low voice right behind her.

"Long time no see, hmm?" Kakashi greeted.

The kunoichi spun around, kunai already in hand, and aimed unerringly towards his stomach. Kakashi's arm flashed out, and in a split second, he had grabbed both her arms and held them far out from his body to prevent her from doing anything to him.

"Hn." Kakashi's head drew closer as he inspected the pink-haired chuunin. "You seem real enough… no genjutsu today?" He questioned affably. Sakura scowled.

"I don't have as much chakra to expend as Naruto or Sasuke," she said irritably. "You should know that… you've been my teacher for quite a while now." Sakura looked away from the jounin, annoyed that he had beaten her so easily. A small portion of her mind also registered that she was currently trapped between the trunk of a large tree and the enigmatic man holding her.

Kakashi didn't let go of her wrists.

"Aa… I suppose." He considered the girl for a moment, studied her slightly sullen expression. "You know," he began casually. The pink-haired kunoichi still refused to look at him. "Those men knew the danger they were in… they had a choice." Sakura's eyes snapped back to the silver-haired man's face, focusing in on him with a clarity she hadn't experienced in days.

"A choice…"

"To go risk their lives or be stationed somewhere else," he explained. Kakashi's one visible eye gazed into hers intently. "No matter what the Shinobi rules and regulations tell you… no matter what _anybody _tells you, the choice of life and death is always yours. It's the _way_ a shinobi chooses to live or die that defines the essence of being a true shinobi."

Sakura stared at him, wordless, with her face pale.

…

The silver-haired jounin's grip on her wrists lightened, but before she realized this, Kakashi leaned forward until his masked face was level with the pink-haired kunoichi's ear. Sakura shifted uncomfortably at his close proximity, but quieted once she heard his next words.

"And don't think I've forgotten our conversation…" Kakashi murmured. Sakura's eyes widened, but she only stared at the silver-haired ex-anbu with astonishment as he let go of her and patted her on the shoulder. "Well, nice training session, Sakura…" He gave a cheerful wave and started back up the road that had led them to the clearing.

"……"

"Oh, and you might want to work on your taijutsu in your spare time, Sakura… it's a little weak!" The jounin called over his shoulder.

"……"

Sakura watched in silence as the indecipherable man disappeared from her line of sight, stirring only when the sudden cry of a crow sounded behind her. The view of the sun beginning to sink below the lines of the buildings of Konoha pushed her into motion.

…

The pink-haired girl slowly started up the same road as the jounin who had just left.

…

She was dead tired, and to top it all, her body was physically exhausted to the point where she wasn't even hungry. Yet, despite her fatigue and weariness, her mind was buzzing with activity. Kakashi's words were a welcome relief from the nightmares of reality, and she grasped the distraction willingly.

…

She would have a lot to think about that night.

…

…

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(Author's notes;) crappy end, by my standards, but this is the best my tired brain can do… :D

Thanks to all those who reviewed! You guys get candy from me! Whee:D

**Jemiul (and also to ArishaGinkaze): **It's interesting that you liked the 20 questions part. :D… nobody seemed to notice (or care) but, technically, that wasn't how 20 questions goes. I learned a couple days later that 20 questions is different than simply asking questions. Next time, I'll call it the question game. Xx

**Konoha Ninja Sasuke's Lover: **Believe it. XD . I have a couple native Japanese speaking friends. :D. So yes, his name means field scarecrow. :D. Not very poetic, is it? (well, if you stretch your imagination enough, you can apply it poetically…)

And no, Iruka isn't dead… yet. XD. j/k!

**Prissy: **I was happy to read your review! I tried making this fic really serious. :D. I'm glad to see I succeeded… to a point. (Though I think I ruin in with my nonsense before and after each chapter. Maybe I shouldn't do Author's notes… I'm ruining my reputation. XD)

**Mithua: **I really liked writing this chapter myself. :D. It was a nice one to write. :D.

No, Iruka isn't one of those who dies. :D. He was not part of the intelligence group, he was sent off to the Snow country to uphold the borders of, wherever they are… - -;; and also, he does miscellaneous work up there.

_**SPECIAL THANKS TO MY NEW BETA (everybody, say Hi to IcarusT. :D. And also, check out her fics, which is, coincidentally, a Kakashi fic. :D XD), WHO IS WONDERFUL AT KEEPING ME ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THIS FIC WITH HER OWN ENTHUSIASM.**_

_**3 3 much love and kudos to IcarusT (kekeke… I'll force time into my schedule to finish the next chapter quickly, ok? 3) **_

eh… reviews are appreciated and delighted over. So keep me happy folks! Review:D :D :D


	13. interlude III

(Author's notes:) Feel free to interpret this as the musings of whichever character you choose. That's what these interludes are for… :D

Truthfully, they were originally meant to be Kakashi's thoughts, but not in any chronological order. It's kind of a spoiler for this story if you think about it. :D

Er… just ignore all that and read. It's not about understanding, it's about creating the right mood for this story.

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter twelve;**

_**Interlude part III**_

_**Reunion in forever**_

………………………………………………………………

_I wish I had never met you._

…

_I wish I had never known you._

…

_I wish this pain in my heart didn't exist._

…

_Daily, I long for your touch, the soft tones of your voice, the warmth of your gaze and your beautiful smile…_

_That special smile that you smiled for me._

…_  
…_

_Memories hurt so much, create a phantom existence, until I reach the point of insanity, screaming your name until my throat bleeds._

…

_There are so many things I wish hadn't happened, so many selfish thoughts that I indulge in, until I realize that all that remains is the lonely wind blowing infinitesimally through the hearts of men._

…_I want to close my heart, forget the past…_

… _lay down my head, let my heart drown in its sadness with the tears I spill._

…

_But I know that if I allow myself to forget, I will be allowing myself to relinquish the only records of our time together_

…_  
…_

_So I force myself to keep living._

…

_I guard the past, keep it alive in my heart…_

…

_I live so that your memory remains in this world._

…

_I live so that you won't die once again._

…

_I live, even though there are days when it hurts to even breathe._

_I'll live a while longer, with your memory keeping me company. _

…_  
…  
…  
…  
…_

_Forever doesn't exist._

_Every single second we live, there is something changing. _

…

_The only forever exists in death._

…_  
…_

_Once people meet, they don't ever part. _

…

_So I'll keep breathing, fighting, surviving for the shadow of the past._

_I'll keep a firm grip until my hand can't hold on any longer._

…_  
…  
…_

_But it won't be the end._

…

_It'll be our reunion._

…_  
…_

_Our second reunion story._

…  
…_  
………………………………………………………_

(author's notes:) next chapter will be up rather late. I have no idea when I'll be started writing it. School is simply killing my free time.


	14. Forbidden Portal

(Author's Notes:) To clarify, the first Great Shinobi War ended, yes. There was a breach in the treaty after the war ended, and this was the time period when our current generation (Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto… etc…) were about 1-4…

Orochimaru still tried to take Sasuke, and failed. So right now, the Sound is at a standstill with Konoha, though it has retreated for the time being. However, the Snow country (reasons unrevealed) is at war with Konoha, though it's a small country, so it's not a big threat to Konoha. However, the Earth has joined Snow.

The Earth country breached the tenuous treaty made after the initial breach, and now, War is about to start. Hope this helped explain things a little.

Also, Iruka is stationed at a place that has two tasks: one, protect their lines enough so that the intelligence stations skirting the snow borders could continue doing their job. So his squad is sort of… the middle-man/guards.

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter thirteen**

**_Forbidden portal_**

…………………………………………………………………………………………

..  
..

_The door clicked shut behind the darkly clothed figure, catching the silvery beams of wistful moonlight on its smooth surface._

…

_He'd opened and closed that door, countless times without ever giving it a second thought or glance._

_Kakashi stared at the door for several silent moments, his eyes taking in each scar in the door, each smudge of dirt. _

…

_Dimly, he recalled an incident that had occurred between Gai and himself, causing several of the kunai marks on the door. Then there was the slight burn mark from the time Obito and Rin had presented him with a surprise birthday cake, candles and all. _

_With a movement as slow as if he had been underwater, he reached into his pocket and drew out a small metal key. The metal glinted coldly in the night, and the chill coming from the metal permeated his gloved hands. _

…

_Everything was in place for his departure. _

_The silver-haired adolescent firmly locked the door to his apartment, and after a moment of careful consideration, murmured an incantation under his breath, and watched as the key in his hand disintegrated into dust. Keys never mattered in the world of shinobi anyways. The most direct route was the most dangerous, after all. Still, he felt a certain satisfaction as he dusted his hands of the remaining ashes._

_Backpack adjusted snugly to his back, the anbu captain vaulted over the railing separating empty air and solid ground, and allowed himself to fall freely into the night air. _

…

…

_Within a few minutes, he was perched on the gigantic walls surrounding Konohagakure. One look was all he allowed himself. _

_One look to memorize each dark silhouette accented in white-silver._

…

_For now, the majority of people in the village slept undisturbed._

_All traces of his presence in Konoha would disappear after this night. _

_He didn't know how long he was to retreat into anonymity, under the cover of having been given an S-class mission. He was being forced to leave his home village, yet he couldn't seem to summon enough energy to care. After all, no ties really held him here._

_Not anymore. _

…

…

_When morning arrived, the villagers would rise as any other day, and greet all the other familiar people. _

…

_And he, Hatake Kakashi, would no longer be a part of Konohagakure.  
…_

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…  
…

Soft puffs of air tinted the world before him white.

For a moment, he could block out the sight of red blood staining the snow around him. But even the fascinating sight of vapor was not enough to hinder the sounds of his name being yelled right into his ear. Iruka winced, and pushed away the blond-haired man shouting his name incessantly into his ear.

"What the hell are you doing, Shinji?"

Shinji rolled his eyes.

"Oh, that's rich. Here I am, trying to bring back a certain _someone_ spacing out in the middle of enemy territory, and _this_ is the thanks I receive," Shinji complained loudly. Iruka ignored the noisy blond, and shoved his way past the man. "Hey… where are you going?"

"Somewhere quiet," was the only response that Iruka gave, before disappearing through the crowd of shinobi huddled on the ground, nursing injuries or tending to the dead.

…

Shinji sighed.

"Man… Can't get a word out without somebody biting my head off…" He grumbled.

…

…

Iruka plunked himself down into the snow, letting himself fall backwards into the cold whiteness.

…

Another small skirmish won.

And the real war hadn't even begun yet.

…

Their troops had now been reduced to about half their original side, yet no reinforcements were being sent from Konoha. Anxiety furrowed Iruka's tanned brow.

How much longer would they have to do this by themselves?

…

When was this going to end?

…

………………………………………………………

…

…

Team seven sat impassively as the noise steadily starting increasing.

…

_"Did I hear that right? You heard that too, right?"_

_"We're going to war! To WAR!"_

_"This is crazy! We're gonna be slaughtered!"_

_"We don't have the men for a war of this scale!"_

_"There was supposed to be a treaty or something to stop--"_

_"Fool! That wasn't a real treaty! That was just-"_

_"Why didn't we know about this sooner?"_

_"Wh.. .But why NOW?"_

_"What about the Snow? We already--"_

_"When are we gonna start having to fight?"_

…

Sasuke shifted in his chair, and scowled as people around them started standing in order to argue better. He glared at one girl who seemed to want to engage him in conversation. Surprisingly, Naruto remained silent, not moving to acknowledge anything.

…

Early morning had brought every available shinobi to the public meeting room located at the Hokage's headquarters. Sasuke and Sakura had been up since last night, undergoing questioning from the anbu and council of elders. Their answers concerning the decimation of the intelligence station had laid to rest any doubts over which country was responsible.

Sakura ran a tired hand through her hair, glancing at the stoic jounin sitting beside her. He glanced at the petal-haired kunoichi, lifting a questioning eyebrow when she continued to stare at him. The sound of arguing voices brought Sakura back to earth, whereupon she flushed and looked away, her brows drawn together in a fine crease.

…

Naruto's eyes moved to his side, when the two Chuunin sitting next to him started yelling at each other.

Sasuke shook his head in disgust.

…

…

A loud bellow swept through the comparatively large room.

"**SILENCE! YOU ARE _NOT_ CHILDREN, SO BEHAVE YOURSELVES!**" Tsunade scowled fiercely at the shinobi assembled in front of her, until the muttering in the room grew to a bearable whisper. Satisfied, the Godaime nodded.

"Now," Tsunade studied the faces before her. "I trust that I will not be interrupted again?" She didn't bother to wait for a reply. Tsunade's eyes scanned the crowd, and stopped for a moment when she reached Team seven, before moving on again. "As you are all aware, we have already been at war with the country of snow. As of today, we are officially at war with Snow's only known current ally, the country of Earth.

We've ascertained that the Hidden Village of Rock has violated the temporary treaty that had been drawn some years back after the initial breach of trust." Tsunade hesitated. "The intelligence station has been… decimated by shinobi from the Hidden Village of Rock. Not only this, but there have been other reports of missing shinobi and unusual activity in the hidden village of rock."

…

Expressions darkened throughout the room, and muttering renewed, subsiding only when Tsunade let out an audible growl.

"The Earth Country, as well as the other countries, will be notified of this development in the war with snow later today." Tsunade paused, her brows furrowing. "As of now, we are not aware what exactly caused the Hidden Village of Rock to rise against us, but steps must be taken NOW to ensure that this does not blow out of proportion into another Great War."

…

The Hokage's clear brown eyes swept over the sea of faces turned towards her. Each face was solemn, with varying amounts of trepidation and fear. Almost half of the faces of those in the crowd belonged to the younger generations of Konoha. The young that Tsunade and others like her had worked so hard to protect, so that Konoha would still survive the ravages of war and have a secure future.

Without the young, what would become of hope?

…

Silence descended in the room when the Hokage stopped speaking.

She closed her eyes for a moment, before heaving a sigh.

"You are all dismissed."

…

…

………………………………………………………

…

…

Sakura slowly followed her teammates out, brooding silently. She had known about the possibility of war beforehand, so the news that had been broken to the other shinobi of Konoha didn't shock or disturb her as much as it could have.

Still, there was a certain finality hovering over the Hokage's announcement in front of the majority of Konohagakure.

…

The petal-haired girl stopped in the middle of the street, dimly aware that Naruto and Sasuke were walking on without her. Around her, other shinobi passed by, all with worried, grim expressions on their faces.

…

…

So this was it.

It was finally war.

…

Pretty soon, the other countries would have to be involved… and another Great War might conceivably occur.

…

She wondered why she didn't feel scared right now.

In fact, she didn't even feel anything.

…

A cry in the streets caught her attention, caused the kunoichi to turn around.

She watched as a little boy curled in on himself on the ground, rocking back and forth, cradling his arm. Nearby, a petite woman bustled over to the boy, whereupon he showed her a scraped and bleeding palm and elbow. Sakura continued to watch as the mother soothed her son, promising him candy.

The pair walked off, the boy comforted.

…

It was amazing how time and circumstances changed people. A couple years ago, she had been so concerned with her appearance, and looking good in front of one certain Uchiha male. Those days seemed laughably far off now, even to her.

The days she had spent in breathless excitement and hopefulness waiting for a sign of recognition from Sasuke seemed petty and pointless now.

…

In place of those feelings that had led her on a wild series of ups and downs, there was simply… nothing.

It was a feeling she was starting to get used to.

…

Maybe it was just a middle ground between normality and hysteria.

…

Or maybe she was already being drawn into a world of insanity.

…

…

…………………………………………………………………………………………

…

…

_She remembered this place…_

_It had been a frequently visited place in her childhood, her private haven from the daily troubles that had dogged her at that point in her life. _

_A small hill, away from the center of town and situated near the forest; it was a pleasant place, peaceful and quiet. _

…

_Cool whispers of wind touched her hair, tickling her exposed skin. The occasional leaf fluttered by, carried softly by the breeze. _

…

_Sakura smiled gently, her green eyes taking in the beauty of the scene._

_Even now, the tranquil feeling she had received here as a child persisted. Just being here was enough to settle her mind and heart._

…

_The petal-haired girl slowly walked up the hill and sat herself down at the top._

_The sun was starting to set, and a breathtaking array of colors were on display in the sky for all to see. Crimson red streaks lining the undersides of the clouds contrasted somewhat oddly with the benign pastel toned backdrop, but Sakura didn't care._

…

_For once, worries about being a shinobi didn't occupy her._

_Half-solved mysteries and dilemmas involving her teammates were shelved for the moment, leaving only a self-awareness that she hadn't experienced in a long time. It was a wholly pleasant feeling._

…

_How long she sat there, simply watching the sun go down, she didn't know._

_Time seemed arrested; it was as though she was replaying one scene in her life over and over and over again… endlessly._

…

_When the sun sat nestled in the horizon, surrounded by the silhouettes of trees and jagged mountaintops, footsteps sounded, catching her attention._

…

_Immediately on the alert, the kunoichi swiftly dipped her hand into the pouch at her hip and readied herself with a pair of kunai. Not many people came here, and animals seldom showed themselves to strangers. That only left one possibility: strangers. _

_Her eyes scanned the shadowy clearing just beneath her, waiting for the owner of the footsteps to appear._

_Sakura's eyes narrowed as breathless laughter sounded from the forest at the edge of the hill. She raised her kunai, ready to throw, when a figure burst out the trees._

_"……!"_

_The kunoichi's eyes widened in shock, her arms still raised to deliver the fatal throw. Sakura watched, dumbfounded, as the small figure made for the hill, her small feet pattering on the soft, springy grass. The tension faded out of her body, until the kunai in her hands lowered back down to hang loosely at her sides._

_A bright smile was apparent on the child's face, a face she knew all too well, framed by hair tinted a shade she had seen all her life._

…

_It was… _her…

…

_Laughter sounded once again from the mouth of the much-younger Sakura racing towards the older one. The child looked over her shoulder, a grin on her face and her green eyes twinkling in the last rays of the setting sun._

_"Hurry up! We're almost there!"_

_Sakura's eyes followed her younger self's line of sight, and let out a gasp._

…

…

………………………………………………………………………………

…

…

_He knew this place._

_It was the road to a place he had frequented often when he was younger. He hadn't been there in years though… why was he here now?_

…

_The silver-haired jounin stood undecided before the path a moment longer, when he caught the sound of light, rapid footsteps behind him. _

_Without a second thought, he leapt upwards, catching an overhanging tree branch. As soon as his feet came in contact with the tree branch, so that he hung upside down rather like an overgrown bat, a small figure came into view._

_His eyes widened involuntarily at the sight of the familiar blossom-pink locks._

_The child giggled, her bright green eyes peering up at the man._

"_What are you doing? Hurry up!"_

_Speechless, the jounin watched as the younger version of the kunoichi ran lightly away, looking mischievously back at him._

…

_Was this some sort of dream? Or was this the lingering side affects of using the Sharingan too much? It had happened before, when he overstrained his unnatural eye, laying him in the land of unshakeable dreams for more than a week._

_"Kakashi-kun! Come on!"_

_His eyes narrowed, focusing on the figure that was almost too small to make out in the distance. With a sleekness of movement possessed by very few, the silver-haired man untangled himself from the tree branch and dropped silently to the ground with perfect composure._

_The girl turned and once again started down the path, this time with the man in close pursuit._

…

_She led him down the road over which shadows were lengthening, making the road appear treacherous to tread upon. The path winded through the sparse yet lush forest that was exactly as he remembered. It was as though… he was stepping back into a page from his past. The feeling was rather eerie, but he continued, his eyes seldom moving from the ephemeral presence before him. _

…

_The smiling visage she presented, the endearing familiarity with which she bestowed him…_

… _it was as if she knew him._

_But his mind screamed at the impossibility of it all. How could she know him, when he was sure he had never seen her before in his life until a few months ago?_

_It was crazy, utterly insane, and frighteningly feasible. _

…

_After all, it wasn't the first time he had caught a glimpse of petal-tinted locks in his dreaming state. More than once, he had seen the girl, though she had hitherto evaded his full grasp. _

_When he had met the older version of the child in his dreams, he had immediately recognized certain features of her person, though the implications of their meeting hadn't hit him fully until much later. He was certain they were the same person. They had to be._

…

_Ahead of him, he could see the line of trees coming to an end, and bright sunlight streamed through the trunks, almost blinding the silver-haired jounin. _

_The girl gave vent to a loud giggle and ran on past his line of vision. He could hear her calling but hesitated to go to her._

_Where was he going with this pointless chase? He knew he should just turn back and perhaps try to restore some sense and order into his mind. Just as he was hovering on the point of heading back, the girl's voice called out to him again, and inevitably, he answered, stepping forward towards the last lights of the sunset._

…

_Emerging from the trees, he shook off the remnants of leaves and twigs on his shoulders, before raising his head to observe the scene before him._

_"……!"_

_His eyes widened above his black fabric mask, as his mismatched gaze met straight with a spring green gaze that he knew from recent times._

_For a brief moment, there was silence, and his eyes dropped from the little child smiling benignly at him, to the kunoichi staring at him silently. The silver-haired man turned his piercing eyes back on the latter, and uttered one word:_

_"Sakura."_

…

…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

…

…

The pink-haired kunoichi bolted upright, her heart hammering, and her fists clenched to the point of bloodlessness.

Her wide eyes scanned the darkness for a panic-stricken moment, before realizing where she was.

"……"

'_I'm home…' _she realized with a sense of dizzying relief. For a moment, she allowed herself to sit in the darkness, comforted by the familiar settings. Then, she reluctantly rose from the bed and padded silently towards the bathroom. She grasped one of the knobs on the sink and turned it, watching dully as the water gushed out, filling the sink.

'_What was that dream?'_ The kunoichi wondered idly, as she turned off the water. She dipped one hand into the cool liquid, watching the water trickle from her cupped palm.

…

…

She was dead tired.

Right after the Hokage's announcement, team 7 had been called to the office, where they had been given another mission.

It had taken two days to complete—a relatively simple mission involving being the bodyguards for a rich old man. The old man had been pleasant enough; it was the barely contained chaos surrounding Konoha that made her weary.

As the genins were hurriedly formed into four man cells in order to better prepare them for the upcoming conflict, the other shinobi had been shouldering more burdens.

Right after team seven returned from their mission, they had been given another. It had continued like this, with only five hours of rest in-between missions for about two weeks. They completed each mission without complaint, but when Kakashi saw how pale the normally tanned Uzumaki had turned, he refused the next mission, saying his team needed some rest.

Now, Naruto was sick at home with the cold, Sasuke was practically unconscious from lack of sleep, and here she was, in the middle of the night, standing in the bathroom.

…

Sakura bent her head closer to the sink, and splashed the cold water onto her face, shivering as she did so.

…

When she straightened and stared at the mirror, a pale-faced girl looked back at her, with dark circles under the eyes and her relatively short pink hair out of place. Sakura stared at her reflection for a moment longer, her green eyes full of an emotion even she couldn't decipher.

"It was just a dream…" she whispered to herself.

Just a dream and nothing more. Dreams weren't tangible and didn't become reality.

…

She closed her eyes, wondering at her sanity, before striding to her closet and methodically changing into something warmer.

Without another glance back, the kunoichi strapped the weapons pouch to her waist, and jumped through the window into the night.

…

…

…………………………………………………………

…

…

Kakashi stared up at the hill, an immobile statue in the night ambiance.

'_Nobody there…_'

He was foolish for even expecting anybody to be here in the dead of night. He didn't even know why _he _was here. He'd acted on impulse, something a shinobi was supposed to refrain from doing often. Yet, here he was, at the foot of the hill he hadn't visited since he didn't know long.

…

It felt strange, being back here.

He'd come here countless times in the past, just to idle the hours away and clear his mind.

If it hadn't been for the dream, he probably wouldn't have remembered this secluded hill, let alone the road that led here.

…

The moonlight shone with an otherworldly glow, accenting each silhouette in the night.

Dreams weren't reality, but he had immaturely hoped, for a brief, irrational second, that maybe it had been more than a dream.

…

His past was oddly blank at one point, odd little gaps appearing when he tried to remember certain things in his past. Had he been amnesiac in his past, perhaps? Or was something else prohibiting his memory from entering forbidden ground…?

…

None of this made any sense.

None of this added up.

He might even say he was overreacting, but he wasn't the type to do that.

…

Circles, over and over. If he went one direction, his footsteps invariably led to the same starting point. It was getting rather frustrating.

…

The ex-anbu captain turned abruptly on his heel, and started to stalk out of the clearing, when he saw the shapeless silhouette of a person skimming the branches towards the hill. His footsteps slowed, and he came to a hesitant stop, staring up at the fleet figure.

'_Can it be…_' He held his breath, his eyes following the nearing person.

As the figure neared, they slowed, coming to a complete halt on the last branch when they spotted him.

He stood in plain view, his silver hair quite evident in the moonlight.

…

A small gasp sounded in the night silence, in a tone too high to belong to a male's.

'… _her…_' Kakashi thought, taking a step nearer.

…

…

Sakura jumped down, hesitantly walking forward to meet Kakashi. She was sure it was him; only he had that shade of hair in Konoha.

"Kakashi-sensei…?" She whispered. Soft as her words were, he heard her. Moments later, they were face to face, at the foot of the hill that had been present in the dreams of both shinobi. Kakashi inclined his head, staring at her with his one visible eye. "What are you doing here?" She asked, her face alight with an odd mixture of trepidation and eagerness. He stared down at her.

"Is there a reason why I shouldn't be here?" he asked softly. The petal-haired kunoichi's hands met and she started pulling nervously on her fingers. Kakashi watched her wordlessly.

For a tense moment, neither spoke. Sakura's eyes were focused on a point near her feet, still fiddling with her hands. The silver-haired jounin resisted the urge to grab her inane fidgeting and took a small step closer to her instead. At his movement, Sakura's eyes rose halfway.

"You're here for the same reason I am."

He said it bluntly, his eyes closely watching for her reaction. Right now, he didn't know what he was doing, or whether or not he was conducting himself properly.

At this point, Kakashi found that he didn't care less.

He had to know… he had to find out the truth.

…

Sakura's gaze rose and met his fully, a hint of astonishment showing in her eyes.

"… the same reason…?" She repeated.

The wind picked up slightly, blowing the petal-haired girl's locks around her. She shook her hair out of her eyes impatiently, her dream fresh in her mind.

Impossible… impossible yet…

"The dream…" Kakashi said lowly. Sakura said nothing in response, opting to look at him instead. Behind the silver-haired man, the grass wavered, undulating softly with the wind. "You dreamt it too… didn't you…?"

…

It was out.

The question was out, and the purpose of their excursion was clear to both now. For a fleeting moment, Sakura considered turning tail and running back to the safe confines of her home. Perhaps this was a continuation of her first dream, and she was sleepwalking. Whatever the case, this was too eerie to be real.

Instead of answering his question, she asked another one in turn.

"That was you at the end of my dream, wasn't it?" She asked, her green eyes moving from him to the line of trees just behind the two. Kakashi's breath hitched briefly and he took another step closer, his eyes never leaving hers.

"You dreamt the same thing then?" He repeated. Sakura hesitated, and then slowly nodded.

…

Sakura and Kakashi stared at each other, their profiles each outlined by the silver rays of the lunar orb in the dark sky.

…

More and more, something was drawing them together.

It was as though an invisible cloth had been tied around their eyes, blindfolding them. Only now, the cloth had slipped, allowing them a glimpse into…

… Into what?

The land between dreams and reality?

A surreal reality that they had somehow crossed into by accident?

…

If so…… they were gradually starting to enter dangerous ground, and there was no way of stopping themselves from entering or turning back.

…

In the world of shinobi, that which couldn't be explained was just as feared and frowned upon as in the normal civilian world.

Except that what couldn't be explained in the world of shinobi was usually far, far more dangerous than the things found in the civilian world.

…

…

This was dangerous.

They were treading in things that should just be left alone and buried in the deepest corners of the mind.

…

The pink-haired kunoichi took a stumbling step backwards, breaking eye contact. Kakashi didn't stop her as she turned abruptly and disappeared into the darkness, never stopping to look back.

He didn't chase after her, didn't call her name.

Long after Sakura had fled to the cover of night, he stood impassively, his dark mismatched eyes staring after the direction she had gone.

…

…

………………………………………………………………………………………

(Author's Notes;) Whee! Another chapter done! I know this chapter wasn't all that action-packed, but hey, this story is SUPPOSED to be romance, (even though there hasn't been much of that either… - -'')

Man… I'm starting to lose my focus with this story cause it's taking so long! . … no worries though. :) I still remember how I planned everything out. :D

Urgh. Being sick and having lots of schoolwork is not a good combination. XX

Thanks again to my beta, IcarusT, for putting up with my inanity about eggs and snow and whatnot. You're the best:DDDDD

Just to let you guys know, chapter updates will really be few and far apart (not that they already aren't, but … yeah…)


	15. incomplete reunion

(Author's Notes:) I seriously thought this fic was gonna die. How long was that writer's block… four months? Three? Yikes. Heh.. you people thought I wasn't coming back… but I'm back. :)

Sorry for the long wait; things are gonna start picking up from around this chapter. Enjoy the utter gloominess that I've been told characterizes this story. Lol. (don't worry. It's intentional.)

I've been told the .. is irritating, but just ignore it, ok? . Every time I post, the paragraphs condense, and I like to space my paragraphs more. Don't really know why, but I do - -;; So unless someone can tell me how to keep the paragraphs from condensing when I post online, those annoying little dots are here to stay. Sorry TT

Here's a big smooch and cyber hug to IcarusT for her amazing patience with crazy ol' me:D Thank you!

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter fourteen**

**_Incomplete reunion_**

…………………………………………………………………………………………

..  
..

_People scurried by, casting distrustful glances at the cloaked and masked stranger in their midst. _

_It was the same greyness that had permeated the other, smaller hidden villages he'd been in. The same hopelessness, the same despair. The frozen remnants of a war-torn country, left behind and forgotten, to pass each lonely day without looking forward to tomorrow. The people he saw around him, living and dying in their own small world, still trapped in the grisly nightmare—their future had been killed the moment they entered the war. _

_Here, no children succumbed to the innocent delight that characterized their age group. Adults all wore the same grim expression, the dark haunted eyes._

_Kakashi walked silently past them all, his eyes taking in the joyless faces surrounding him. _

_So different. It seemed so different from Konoha. _

_Every village or town he traveled through treated strangers coolly, melting away into the shadows so that he was left alone in the streets. Despite whom he was and the ninja way of life he was accustomed to, this lonely aimless journey was slowly piercing him with its solitude. At least in Konoha, he had been welcomed, accepted. Now, he had nothing. Only his allegiance to Konoha… and memories._

_Memories that caused him more pain than comfort._

…

_Behind his wooden anbu wolf mask, a twisted half-smile formed, his mismatched eyes flickering._

…

_This wraithlike existence was what he was reduced to._

_Wandering without real purpose, dragged down with the weight of painful memories… alone, bereft of comfort._

_This was what he would have to endure for the years to come._

…

_A shinobi was to abandon emotions, forgo memories of humanity in favor of becoming the perfect killing machine, the silent assassin without regrets or remorse for past actions. On the battlefield, emotions were a danger to the shinobi's life._

…

_Kakashi would become the perfect shinobi, for the duration of nine, long years._

…

…

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

…  
…

"… aa!"

A sharp hiss of pain accompanied by the distinct metallic clink of a kunai hitting the tiled ground of Konoha's hospital sounded loudly through the murmur of voices and the beeping of monitors.

Tanned, callused fingers convulsed once before falling limp again, twitching at random intervals.

The door slammed open as Sakura stumbled backwards, allowing the shinobi guards stationed throughout the hospital to rush in and restrain the injured man before her. Another kunai was ripped forcibly from the patient's grip, clattering against the pristinely white floors of the hospital.

Nurses came through the half-opened door, attracted by the hoarse yells coming from the brown-haired man before her.

…

Umino Iruka's face was contorted in agony as he fought imaginary foes. He thrashed wildly on the hospital bed, despite the wounds covering the majority of his body.

…

Sakura watched him numbly, her green eyes dark and drops of crimson blood spilling over the raw edges of her new wound.

She hadn't imagined her reunion with her teacher to be like this.

…

It was supposed to have been a joyful meeting, full of noise and fun.

"Sakura-San!"

Not like this.

He didn't even recognize her. And to top it all, he'd attacked her.

…

The squad posted by the border of the snow country had been forced to retreat, when an ambush in the middle of the night reduced their ranks to only seven men. Three of those men had died on the return trip to Konoha and two had been caught in some battle that had put them in some indissoluble genjutsu.

The petal-haired girl impatiently shook off the concerned nurse's hands and ignoring the trickle of blood running down the kunai wound in her arm, she approached her former teacher slowly, her green eyes never leaving his pale and worn face. Behind her, the Hokage entered the small room, unseen and unnoticed by the kunoichi standing silently by her teacher.

Sakura's mind moved methodically through the types of genjutsu she knew, but nothing familiar came to mind. She knew of no jutsu that could hold a person's mind so long. If she didn't know any better, she would have said this was a genjutsu produced by the Sharingan, but she knew that if that had been the case Iruka-sensei would have appeared comatose.

"Sakura."

Sakura, upon recognizing the voice, turned and met Tsunade's concerned chocolate tinted gaze.

"Tsunade-sama…"

The Hokage came to a halt beside her unusually pallid former apprentice. The two of them stared at the brown-haired jounin (1. yes, Iruka's a jounin here.) writhing on the bed, restrained by the two hefty guards. Sakura glanced almost pleadingly up at the blonde woman, unaware or uncaring that the blood from her wound was staining the white tiles. Somewhere in the hospital, the sound of doors slamming open echoed, registering dimly in the petal-haired girl's mind.

"Well…?" Tsunade approached Iruka, her eyes going over the emaciated frame critically. "Did you find any openings in his mind?" Seeing the pink-haired girl shake her head silently, Tsunade's brow furrowed.

"I couldn't get near enough to try." Sakura explained quietly. As if to emphasize the reason why, Iruka suddenly gave vent to a hoarse yell and his face twisted into a pained expression. Beside the blonde woman, Sakura blanched and her fists tightened. The Hokage glanced at the young kunoichi beside her, her brown eyes resting on the still bleeding wound on the pale arm.

Sakura grimaced, her eyes blankly watching Iruka.

Her brain was screaming at her, even while she stared numbly at the familiar face twisted in pain.

…

_Move._

_Don't stand so helplessly by!_

_Damn it, Sakura, help him!_

…

Tsunade raised her hand, stared at Iruka's tanned face for a brief moment and with one swift movement of her fingers, the jounin fell back limply, a silent unmoving figure on the blood-stained bed. The Godaime glanced back at Sakura, who approached her former teacher's side with a set expression.

The blonde woman stared at her apprentice with an unreadable expression in her eyes.

…

The time when she could have protected the innocent girl from the harsh world surrounding them like a spider's glistening, yet invisible strands was far past…

Sakura had more than proved herself to be able to withstand the rigors of being a shinobi, and even more importantly, a medical ninja.

This was just another part of the path the petal-haired girl had chosen; this was simply another mission. Another person. Another reoccurring nightmare for each shinobi involved in the war…

.  
"Remember, retreat from their minds as soon as you feel foreign chakra," Tsunade reminded quietly. Sakura nodded, her eyes fixed on the immobile body in front of her.

The two guards shuffled past the Hokage with low bows, before heading out the door, shutting it noiselessly behind them.

.  
.  
…

Two shaking hands extended, and placed themselves on Iruka's temples.

…

.  
_He's just another patient…_

_Focus…_

… _Just another patient…_

_Control yourself, Sakura. _

…

Her eyes closed, just as the sound of pounding feet reached her, and as the door slammed open yet again, Sakura lost contact with reality.

…  
…

………………………………………………………

Tsunade turned sharply to see two panting boys bursting into the small hospital room.

"Old lady!" Naruto gasped out, hand massaging his aching side. "We heard… heard…" His voice faltered as Tsunade stepped back, his blue eyes widening in shock and worry.

A tense silence filled the room as the two boys absorbed the scene before them.

"He arrived this morning, along with a couple others." Tsunade said calmly.

…

The two male chuunin had received word of Iruka's arrival by a messenger sent by Sakura, who had been at the hospital working an early morning shift.

They'd been told he was in critical condition.

It was just the question of _how _critical of a condition he was in.

…

Sasuke shoved his way past the blond and stopped just short of crashing into his petal-haired teammate. He realized that Sakura was deep in the trance-like concentration required for medic-nins, necessary in order to maximize the healing process between medic and patient. All the people in the small hospital room watched with a solemn stillness, as the Uchiha stared wordlessly at the brown-haired man lying motionless on the bed.

…

He was pale.

Too pale, for a man who was as tanned as Iruka.

And he'd grown thinner.

…

Again, useless.

His lips half-twisted unconsciously into a grimace.

.  
Around him, people were dying by the day, for one reason or another. How much longer was it going to be before he lost those he had come to care for as well? Almost all his life, he'd trained to be a shinobi, so why did he feel so damn useless?

When was this stupid cycle going to end…?

Sasuke's eyes, which were slowly fading into a bloody red tint, took in the numerous wounds on his former teacher's body. A raging sort of silence was pounding in his head, his fists clenching and unclenching unconsciously.

_So many wounds… it's a wonder he's even alive…_

_If he hadn't—_

.  
"**SAKURA!**"

.  
A shout brought the brooding Uchiha back to the present; he turned sharply to see the petal-haired girl's eyes snap wide open, an expression of faint shock on her face. Her limbs were unnaturally rigid, the blood draining quickly from her face.

…

His dark-crimson Sharingan eyes widened as all thoughts of Umino Iruka faded in favor of his petal-haired teammate.

_What the… !_

"Sasuke! Get her hands off Umino!" Tsunade said sharply, her face abruptly suffused with alarm. Well-practiced instinct overrode hesitation as the Uchiha reached for the girl, his lips twisting into a pained grimace at the feeling of rampant chakra in the kunoichi's arms. There was a brief, unconscious resistance on Sakura's part, before a final pull from Sasuke induced her to collapse limply into his ready arms.

Naruto sprang forward, his blue eyes blazing with worry.

"Sakura-chan!"

…………………………………………………

...  
...

_She could feel her body, suspended somewhere in that indiscriminate line between illusions and reality. _

No movement.

No sound.

_There was only a soft silence, as Sakura stared blankly into the overwhelming darkness, waiting mutely for something, anything to happen. _

…………………………………………………

One minute passed into another minute, dragging to become three minutes…

The two chuunin waited edgily as Tsunade finished the check-up on their former teacher. Naruto cocked his head impatiently.

Tsunade removed her hand from Iruka's forehead, nodding once at the blond kitsune.

"Looks like whatever she did, she managed to fix Umino up." She said in a puzzled tone. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes running critically over the familiar man's worn features.

"So… he's ok…?" He asked tentatively. The hokage nodded, resting a reassuring hand on the blond boy's shoulders for a brief moment before turning back to the motionless girl still positioned in the Uchiha's arms.

Naruto allowed himself a moment more of satisfied contentment at having his old teacher and friend safe and home again.

"Heh… Glad you're back again Iruka-sensei…" He whispered gruffly, a sad smile lingering on his lips.

Sasuke looked up at the blond boy, his features relaxing briefly as he watched the soft rise-and-fall motion of Iruka's chest.

…

Five minutes and counting.

.…

Sasuke's features slowly settled back into a tense expression as he silently watched the kunoichi's face for any sign of a return to consciousness.

…………………………………………………

...  
...

_**Thump-thump**_

The tiny beginnings of tension

_**Thump-thump**_

The growing edges of distinct anxiety

_**Thump-thump**_

_**Thump-thump**_

_And she felt something…_

.  
_The soft touch, the merest traces of the beginnings of a bone-numbing cold… nipping into her limbs… _

_**Thump……**_

_A scream erupted from the petal-haired kunoichi as she was hit by a cacophony of overwhelming sounds, noises, and emotions. _

_Images from her past, the familiar faces of her comrades and friends, memories of missions gone awry— She watched, unable to tear her gaze away, unable to blink, unable to block out the noise, unable to suppress the tide of memories… Naruto's bright blond hair shone in the sunlight, but his eyes were oddly dim, oddly lifeless, oddly blank… Sasuke was once more the dark avenger, his wild Sharingan glaring out at them, the crimson red shade of his orbs nearly lost in the rich crimson splatters staining his skin and clothes; his gleaming white teeth opened in a raucous manic laugh… _

She was surrounded by nothing and everything at once; she was a mere shadow and an integral part of a grand design…

_Red, red eyes… a demonic rage long suppressed behind a happy mask broke through as tears of pain and anger spilled down those unearthly fiery orbs… Naruto's feral eyes shone in the darkness as he threw his head back and gave vent to a haunting, bestial scream. _

_**Thump…**_

_Her open, glassy emerald gaze refused to close, refused to let her block out the unending stream of images. _

…………………………………………………

..  
..

Ten minutes.

…

Ten minutes of strained silence, broken only by Tsunade's occasional pacing.

…

Now approaching the eleventh minute.

…

Sasuke stared up at Tsunade, his Sharingan spinning agitatedly, and a dark scowl on his face.

"... What's wrong with her?" He finally asked, the fine dark line of his brows lowering. The blond boy squatted down once again beside the motionless kunoichi and hissed in sympathy as he examined the raw red palms showing starkly against her pale, creamy skin. The Hokage, ignoring both boys, peered thoughtfully at the pink-haired girl reclining in the Uchiha's arms. Her clear mauve-tinted brown eyes darkened and moved back to the unconscious, but now stable man lying on the hospital bed.

"That … wasn't supposed to happen…" She muttered half to herself. The Uchiha's voice cut into the air like the honed edge of a katana, effectively interrupting her musings.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke snapped. Beside him, Naruto laid a light hand on his dark-haired teammate's shoulder, frowning slightly at the rapidly growing annoyance displayed by the Uchiha. "If there was something irregular with Iruka-sensei, then wouldn't it have been wiser to allow a fully qualified medic-nin to handle the situation?" Sasuke questioned. "Why is a mere apprentice having to take on duties that only fully-trained medic-nins should be dealing with?" He continued evenly, fixing dark onyx eyes onto her with thinly veiled anger. Tsunade's gaze hardened.

"Enough." Her quiet tone carried only slight overtones of anger, but the Uchiha recognized that he had overstepped his boundaries and inclined his head towards her after considering her for a moment. Naruto's voice broke in the once again tense atmosphere with characteristic non-existent subtlety.

"He's right, you know." The blond raised his sky-blue eyes to the Godaime. "Between her duties at the hospital and training with our team, Sakura-chan's getting overworked; heck, even I can tell." His gaze darted back to the petal-haired girl. "Not that I've heard her complain or anything-" A frown surfaced on his tanned face. "But… that's the problem, isn't it? She's letting herself be trodden all over 'cause she's so eager to be of help. She's great like that." Naruto allowed a small smile to break through the solemnity of his former expression, before elapsing back into a seriousness that few rarely saw. Those fortunate enough to see the more serious side to the blond mischief-maker invariably parted with newfound respect for the hidden maturity the kitsune possessed. "She's gonna push herself too hard if enough is heaped onto her." He stared hard at his Hokage with his piercing blue eyes. "She's YOUR apprentice. You should be taking better care of her, old lady."

"And while we're at it, shouldn't we transfer Sakura to a bed or something?" Sasuke asked pointedly. Tsunade shook her head.

"We don't know what's wrong with her… I haven't seen this kind of reaction happen from something like this before." She admitted. "It might be better not to move her until she regains consciousness."

Tsunade shifted uncomfortably under the belligerent gazes of the two young males beside the petal-haired kunoichi. The blond woman shifted her gaze instead to the motionless girl, her lips pursing.

"I won't pretend that I didn't know Sakura was being overworked." She acknowledged uncomfortably. The dark-haired Uchiha opened his mouth to speak, but before he could form one word, Tsunade held up her hand, a faint smirk forming on her face. "But this is neither the time nor place to be discussing this." Her gaze assessed faces that spoke of displeased resentment, before pointing at the faint signs of movement coming from the kunoichi. Dark onyx and sky blue eyes dropped in unison to the pink-haired girl, immediately noticing the twitching fingers.

"She's coming to!" Naruto exclaimed, much relieved.

Sasuke gave a short, mental sigh of similar relief.

..  
..

…………………………………………………

..  
..

_She was a genin again, caught in the forest of death with Sasuke, frozen like trapped animals by a hungry snake. She couldn't move… Sasuke couldn't move… Her mind screamed 'danger' at her as she fruitlessly attempted to recover from the magnetic effect of those malicious eyes. _

_Golden eyes bored into her, hypnotic and sensual, tainted with the diabolic presence of murderous intent… A rising tide of panic threatened to engulf her unmoving body, as she frantically tried to regain control — dammit— Why can't I move? And Naruto… where was he… oh please oh please don't let him be dead please don't let us die, not yet—move dammit MOVE!…_

…

And suddenly, all her widely distorted, magnified senses froze for a brief, heartstopping moment…

_**Thump-thump..**_

_**Thump-thump..**_

.  
_**Thump-thump..**_

A single teardrop……

.  
_**Thump…**_

Her whole being imploded, forcing its scattered remnants back inside her empty, cold body, warming her with fierce intensity; for a split second of eternity, Sakura could imagine crossing the impossible boundary between _death_ and _life… birth and renewal… heaven and hell… _

.

Sakura felt a burning pain begin to grow in her heart.

…………………………………………………

Sasuke's eyes widened when he felt the involuntary shuddering of her body, however faint. He quickly looked up at the Hokage, his dark onyx eyes wide with alarm.

"No. Something's still wrong." He said roughly.

The blond chuunin beside him looked at him questioningly, but before the Uchiha could respond, Sakura unwittingly answered the unspoken question as her body began trembling more violently. Tsunade took a step forwards, her dark mauve-brown eyes narrowing with frustration.

"Her body's responsive… why the hell isn't she waking up?" She muttered. She knelt down, reached for the petal-haired girl's wrist. Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Her heart-rate shouldn't be this high right now…" Tsunade abruptly stood, strode over to the doorway and flung open the door, narrowly avoiding hitting a small woman wearing the standard medic-nin uniform.

"Ts-Tsunade-sama!"

"I believe I requested a team of medic-nins a couple minutes earlier?" Tsunade asked, narrowing her eyes. The woman looked confused for a moment, before nodding frantically at the irritated look on the godaime's face. "Well, why aren't they here yet?" She asked, resisting the urge to massage her temples.

"Well… that… that is… y-you see…" The woman's voice trailed off, as she looked around, face uncertain. Tsunade sighed.

"Get a team of medic-nins and Shizune here, pronto!" She barked, not bothering to wait for a response as she turned on her heel and slammed the door shut again.

The godaimewas met by the unexpected sight of tears beginning to run down the unresponsive, yet trembling kunoichi's face. She stared at the clear liquiddropstrickling down the creamy skin with blank eyes.Naruto looked up at her helplessly, his face pale and confused.

"Why isn't she waking up?" he asked softly. Beside him, Sasuke's grip tightened for a moment, before loosening again. Tsunade leaned heavily against the hospital room wall, her eyes closing wearily.

"I wish I knew Naruto… I wish I knew…" She answered in a subdued tone.

.  
…

Fourteen minutes.

…

"Dammit…" Sasuke's head lowered briefly, hiding his face from view. "Wake up, Sakura… wake up…"

…………………………………………………

_**Thump-thump..**_

.  
**_Thump-thump.._**

_And she was a small child again, desperately trying to hold in the tears, the hurt of her own father's _betrayal…

_**Thump…**_

_Still the tears fell, as she reached for the trembling, pale hand one final time, gazed desperately into mismatched eyes dark with regret and abject pain. _

_It was too soon…_

Sakura gasped for air as the burning ache suddenly started transferring to the center of forehead.

It was all impossible. She didn't remember any of this… she didn't remember this happening before!

_**Thump-thump..**_

_Already, the barrier was in place, separating the fragile touch with effortless cruelty, cold and implacable in spite of the young child's endless stream of tears. _

…

But the pain was real.

Oh gods… the pain… was too real to be illusion.

…

_The barrier was extending too rapidly… too rapidly for her to say goodbye… And just beyond the white glowing boundaries separating them, she saw the final farewell in his soft smile, the closing of his eyes. Sakura watched, her face transfixed in a silent agony as she strained to see him through the almost blinding glow, her eyes taking in the familiar silhouette. Her heart hurt more than it had ever before, so that she found herself gasping for breath. Dimly, she heard a voice call out for her to close her eyes._

**_Thump._**

**_Thump._**

The petal-haired girl half-unconsciously raised her hand over her heart, her fingers curling into the skin painfully. Tears streamed from her eyes as she allowed them to close, just as the blinding light intensified.

She could hear him, a long drawn-out roar against the pleading screaming of her own voice.

_This wasn't supposed to happen…_

_Please… oh please… stop… don't let this go on… _

Her hands found their way to her forehead, clawing at the skin there desperately, as she hunched over, oblivious to the crimson liquid streaming down her face now. She could only hear his pained voice and her own mixing together in the awful cacophony of noises and images in her mind. Sobs wracked her body as her she strained to reach her hand towards the faint figure laying beyond her reach. She had to get to him… She had to stop this pain…

_**Thump-thump  
**_

_**Thump-thump**_

_**Thump.**_

Sakura's voice broke through the chaotic din, a pleading scream painted with the red tones of anguish.

.  
…

"… _Don't take him away from me…!_"

…………………………………………………

Several miles from Konohagakure, Hatake Kakashi slid to an abrupt stop, his shoes gouging into the loosely packed earth beneath him. The mane of silver hair shivered in the soft breeze as he looked back towards the village they had left earlier that morning. The wooden masked face was implacable, but beneath the painted anbu mask, his brows furrowed. Around him, similarly masked figures came to a halt, looking towards him silently.

"Is something wrong, Hatake-san?" A voice near him addressed. He dimly remembered the name as being Midako or something to that effect.

"……" The silver-haired man remained silent for a moment, his gaze still focused towards Konoha.

"… sir…?" The young man prompted.

Kakashi shook himself mentally, forced himself to turn back towards the front.

"No." He said quietly. "I just thought for a second…" He paused. He didn't really know why he had stopped. Without another glance at the man beside him, Kakashi started forwards again. He vaguely noted the sounds of the other anbu picking up pace again and spreading back into position around him.

…

…

Several hours into the mission, Kakashi could still hear the enigmatic voice, desperate and pleading.

…

…

'_Don't take him away from me…!_'


	16. Finite Suspension

Author's Notes:

Yes, another irritatingly long wait! Forgive me… but it looks like the rate of update is here to stay. :/ (The first half of senior year is entirely unpleasant, I have found…)

I was going to write more, but it didn't seem to fit into this chapter… . So this chapter will be rather slow, but it's necessary. I wonder if you guys are starting to see what's affecting our poor Kakashi and Sakura?? There's been a couple major clues people…

Thanks for all the reviews last chapter, and the love.

…**Saikai Story- Reunion story…**

**Chapter fifteen**

**_Finite suspension _**

…………………………………………………………………………………………

..  
..

_The full head of bright silver hair drew closer in the crowd, lazily drifting through the mass of people milling in the bright morning sunshine._

_Haruno Tomeo stiffened, his hand unconsciously tightening on the frail, pale hand clasped in his. _

…

It had been two years since he had last seen the boy.

Two years of tension-wrought peace.

…

It was a peace stolen from a boy who had lost almost everything in life, and part of his identity.

…

_Beside him, Sakura peered curiously up at her father, wondering what had caused the sudden solemnity emanating from the copper-haired man. _

_"Otou-san…?" _

_Haruno smiled down with a distracted air as the young man sporting the mane of silver hair neared, a hitai-ate perched lazily over one eye.  
_.

_The copper-haired man stood frozen with baited breath, as Hatake Kakashi's dark-eyed gaze studied a fruit vendor enthusiastically waving an overripe apple in his hand.  
_.

_Time seemed to slow, as Kakashi's gaze transferred to himself before casually flicking over to the petal-haired child fidgeting beside him._

_Tomeo stopped breathing._

_"Ah! Ah! Look! It's Ino-chan!!" Sakura suddenly squealed happily, disentangling her little hand from her father's. Before he could act, she raced towards the silver-haired jounin, calling out her friend's name. _

_Kakashi barely gave the child a second glance as she passed him to meet her blonde friend.  
_.

_Tomeo breathed again._

_Haruno watched, transfixed, as the ANBU commander continued on, disinterested eyes meeting Haruno Tomeo's unmoving gaze, before disappearing onto a different street and out of the copper-haired man's sight. _

…

…

…………………………………………………………………………………………

…  
…

Silence greeted the Uchiha's words.

The silver haired man stared uncomprehendingly at the dark-haired boy, frozen in the act of toweling his hair. His eyes slowly widened.

"…… What…?"

It was taking longer than it should for words to process in the exhausted jounin's mind.

Perched precariously in the open windowsill, Sasuke only regarded the silver-haired man with inscrutable onyx eyes that focused onto Kakashi's visible features with disconcerting intensity. For once, the hitai-ate wasn't drooped in its customary position over Kakashi's Sharingan eye.

It was slightly eerie to see his clan's heritage and birthright on the face of someone who wasn't an Uchiha. Even odder to see that almost predatory crimson orb framed by strands of bright silver bordering on white, instead of black.

Tendrils of bitterness drifted back into Sasuke's mind, momentarily clouding his perception, as his thoughts turned to the only other living Uchiha.

Silence fell once again, almost languidly settling over the two unmoving shinobi, broken only by the faint raindrops falling in a steady rhythmic beat from a dismally grey sky.

The young Uchiha forced his mind back to the present, his eyes centering on the confused, uncomprehending expression on Kakashi's face.

The dark-haired chuunin's keen eyes took in the dead beat lines of Kakashi's drooping shoulders, eyed the newly acquired bandages on said jounin's left hand. He briefly wondered how difficult the mission had been for even the skilled copy ninja to acquire injuries.

…

Shaking aside his straying thoughts, Sasuke impatiently tossed the dark bangs out of his eyes in a curt movement.

"I said, Sakura's fallen unconscious." He repeated slowly. "It happened about one day into your mission," the Uchiha added after a moment, watching the tall jounin blink at him.

Kakashi continued to blink slowly, processing the unexpected information into his weary mind.

"Nobody knows what's wrong with her," Sasuke continued.

Kakashi's hand fumbled with the towel for a moment as his loosened grip caused the soft cloth to gravitate towards the ground. Sasuke's eyes flashed almost imperceptibly.

The silver-haired man frowned, behind the dark fabric mask covering the lower portion of his face.

"How is she?" The jounin asked, his brows furrowed slightly as he stared at his student. Sasuke's face darkened.

…  
…  
…

It had been two days since Sakura's lapse into unconsciousness.

Two days full of anxiety.

Two days full of pale silence.

…  
…  
………………………………………

_"Dammit Sakura…"_

_Blue eyes, dimmed with worry, regarded the motionless form on the hospital bed with poorly concealed sadness. _

_A hand settled on the blond's shoulder, as he clenched his fists together. _

_"Isn't there anything we can do to help, Tsunade-baba??" he asked lowly. The well-endowed woman gave a soft sigh before once again shaking her head regetfully. _

_"I don't know what's wrong with her…" she responded bleakly. _

_Naruto bowed his head, before shaking off the warm hand on his shoulder with a sharp jerk of his arm and turning abruptly to leave the stark white, dead silent hospital room. _

…  
…  
………………………………………

Hatake Kakashi had arrived in Konoha two hours beforehand. Two hours since the completion of the ANBU level mission.

Two hours of distracted self-ministrations, wondering at the uneasy prickling of his skin.

Two hours of unconscious waiting.

…  
…  
………………………………………  
…  
…

"_Congratulations on a mission well done, Hatake-san."_

_In response, the silver-haired man lowered the upper half of his body in a stiff, formal bow, fighting back a pained grimace as his muscles screamed in protest at the movement. He straightened again, feeling his temporary subordinates straighten as well behind him. _

_He raised his eyes and scanned the Hokage's face briefly, seeing the lines of weariness and a trace of anxiety visible in the smooth lines of her yet-youthful face. She met his gaze evenly, but Kakashi's gaze darted down to the taut skin over her knuckles, as she gripped the teacup with a tightness that belied her troubled demeanor._

_Tsunade looked down first, before the piercing gaze found the source of her discomfort. _

_"You are dismissed." _

_One by one, the members of the ANBU squad turned to leave, some disappearing in a cloud of dense smoke, or trudging out of the door with heavy steps._

_Kakashi turned to leave as well, but the Godaime's voice, uncharacteristically soft, stopped his footsteps. _

_"Hatake…" _

_He turned, his one visible eye lingering inquisitively on the woman's clear brown orbs. She opened her mouth, to speak, before snapping it shut again with a small shake of her head._

_"You may go." She muttered, sinking into the high back of her chair. His brows furrowed as he caught her softly murmured words over the sounds of his soft footsteps. _

"_He'll find out soon enough…" _

…  
…  
………………………………………  
…  
…

Kakashi's lips tightened into a thin line, the sense of foreboding deepening until he could almost imagine seeing it materializing in the dark grey clouds lying low in the sky.

So this, then, was what he had been waiting for?

…

"She's… " Sasuke hesitated, his dark onyx eyes surveying the masked man with an unreadable expression before his voice trailed off into silence. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, slightly irritated at the boy's lack of willingness to give information.

Why the hell was he here, if he wasn't going to talk?

.

"Sasuke, I'm not in the mood for games," the silver-haired jounin said tiredly after a lengthy second had dragged by. "Either tell me or don't." He directed a pointed stare towards the younger Sharingan user before dropping the towel carelessly onto a nearby sofa and heading to the kitchen.

Sasuke stayed where he was, watching the man disappear from his line of vision.  
...

What was he supposed to say anyways?

The Uchiha allowed a brief scowl to surface on his face, just as Kakashi reappeared in the living room, a half-empty cup of water in hand. Sasuke watched in silence as the jounin set the glass onto a nearby counter. The gentle clink of glass hitting the smoothed wooden surface sounded rather loudly in the tense atmosphere.

"I've said all that I need to. I'm leaving," the Uchiha said curtly. He crouched again, preparing to duck underneath the low edge of the apartment window's frame, and found himself looking back at the jounin.

Kakashi finished the last of the water and set down the glass cup on small side table near the beige-toned couch. The silver-haired man regarded his student with a calm, if somewhat weary, gaze.

"Which room." It was a question, but the lingering sense of lethargy overrode the usual nuances of tone, and deadened his voice to a low monotone.

"244."

The dark-haired Uchiha disappeared from sight, as the sounds of falling rain became more pronounced beneath a darkening sky. Kakashi neared the open window slowly, his eyes noting with detached interest the windowsill slick with rainwater, dripping droplets of water onto the smooth wooden floors.

"……"

He closed the window with a fluid motion, his movements only slightly hampered by the bandages on his hand.

…  
…

Room 244.

…  
…

He recognized that room number.

…

Kakashi stared past the rain-streaked glass to the overcast shinobi village laid out in dull detail before him. A few people lingered on the streets, guards changing watches and on break, as well as the regular patrols that were enforced by the new Hokage to ensure citizen safety.

His eyes clouded.

Room 244.

The room that his father had breathed his last in…

…  
…  
………………………………………………………………  
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…

A dim silhouette broke away from the darkness of the unlit corridor and silently made its way down the smoothly worn wooden floor, illuminated dimly by the soft light filtering through the thick paper of the shoji paneled wall dividing the hallway from the kitchen.

The outline of beautifully painted traditional-style sakura trees in full bloom shone darkly against the warm light shining in the kitchen.

Soft feminine voices sounded softly in the silence, somber and hushed. The melodic tones were barely distinguishable from the downpour of rain rattling overhead and the vengeful wind whispering inanities into the unwary listener's mind.

He continued down the hallway, where the almost translucent light penetrated less, leaving the end of the current corridor he was in darker than he would have liked.

The light seemed insufficient, in comparison to the darkened skies that hung heavily outside the rain-streaked glass.

Sandal-clad feet stopped before a dead-end wall, just before an ornate rug patterned in muted tones of red.

The soft light touched upon strands of loose, copper hair that hung down past an aged, tan face, throwing the features of the craggy surface into sharp-relief. Shadows hung in the crevices of brow and mouth, deepening as the placid surface twisted into a frown.

It was a face that had seen many battles and survived; a face that had seen time as a river, ever flowing and linear, unable to halt the progressive journey down the expansive watercourse.

The man stooped, his crouched form moving out of the soft light's range so that he was barely distinguishable from the shadows shrouding him. A hand slowly reached out and swept aside the rug before him with a deliberate, yet almost tentative movement.

Soft muttered words sounded in the relative silence, followed by a flaring of bluish light.

The chakra-produced light drowned out the vestiges of the warm light filtered from the kitchen, casting everything in the near vicinity in stark contrast. The pale, pulsing light illuminated the outline of a concaved handle carved into the wooden flooring.

…

Tomeo Haruno's mouth tightened.

…

_Too many secrets…_

_Too many mistakes…_

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_Too little time to unravel them all._

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…

He firmly grasped the handle and pulled the door open.


End file.
